JStef!; 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
^X.'^ — 

^niu^..-..Gm\i%}liTla 

Shelf....'- L..2/ -t 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



NAPOLEON III. AND 

LADY STUART 



f^ 




NAPOLEON III. AND 

LADY STUART 



AN EPISODE OF THE TUILERIES 

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH 

OF y 

PIERRE DE LANO 

BY 

A. C. S. 

NEW YORK 

J. SELWIN TAIT k SONS 

65 FIFTH AVENUE 

1894 






^\,1 



Copyright, 1895, 

BY 

J. SELWIN TAIT & SONS, 
New York. 

A// Rights Reserved. 



THE LIBRARY 
or CONGRESS 

WASHINGTON 



PREFACE. 

Some years ago, I happened to meet a lady in 
a Parisian salon, who was very prominent at 
the Tuileries, towards the close of the reign of 
Napoleon III., whose personality I have already 
cursorily sketched in my works on the Second 
Empire. 

I enquired about her and ascertained that 
after the disaster of 1870, she had gone abroad, 
but had returned to France at the close of 
the war and established herself in Paris. 

Knowing that this lady had, not long before, 
been very intimate with Napoleon TIL, and had 
been one of his closest friends, after having 
been introduced to her, I determined to learn 
from her personally, the particulars of the inci- 
dent which I am about to relate. 

This event in her life, of which particulars 
are given in the following pages is in no 
sense a commonplace one, and possesses all 
the interest of the most dramatic novel. 

5 



6 PREFACE. 

I fouud her willing to aid me in the vindication 
of her character, and to give me the benefit 
of her recollections, without which it would 
have been impossible for me to write 'this 
book. 

This woman, whom I shall call Lady Stuart^ 
was very nearly of the same age as the Empress 
Eugenie, whose rival she was, and has, to-day, 
like her, white hair. She formerly enjoyed all 
the privileges of an acknowledged beauty, and 
held a high and envied position, but she suf- 
fered cruelly. 

Jt is her cry of anguish — born of pride, of 

love and maternity — which will find an echo in 

these pages. 

P. de L. 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY 
STUART; 

AN EPISODE OF THE TUILERIES. 
CHAPTER I. 

AT THE TUILERIES. 

In 1866, after Sadowa, when the Emperor 
Napoleon III. had dechired his inability to re- 
strain the ambitious designs of Prussia, the 
inscrutability, which ordinarily characterized 
his features, seemed to have abandoned him. 
and he was unable to conceal tlie anxiety \A'hich 
was preying upon his mind. 

The Coui't for a long time had been made up 
of the scheming and empty-headed courtiers 
wild formed the usual retinue of the Empress 
Eugi'nie, and the men and women in their in- 
tercourse with their sovereign feigned igno- 
rance of the attitude of the Emperor, for fear 

7 



8 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

that they might be obliged to abandon their 
habitual round of pleasures. 

In spite of the systematic course of gaiety 
prevailing at the Court, the bitterness which 
filled the mind of Napoleon III. was too evi- 
dent, either to be denied or ignored. There 
were, however, among the courtiers a few who 
were sufficiently alive to the interests of their 
country or animated with the desire to concern 
themselves with the political clouds which were 
threatening on the frontiers to feel oppressed 
with uneasiness and apprehension. 

In the uncertainty of those anxious days, 
some of the more circumspect and ])rudent 
waited with good taste the signal from their 
sovereign to abandon themselves again to their 
habitual pleasures, or for such circumstances as 
might indicate to them the proper attitude to 
assume. But others who were less hypocritical 
or more devoted to a life of sensual gratification, 
loudly deplored the dullness which prevailed at 
the Court, and protested that it was wrong to 
listen to these bearers of evil omens, and with 
a brutality not altogether free from a picturesque 



NAI'OLEDN 111. AND LADV STUART. 9 

egotism, did not hesitate to declare that the 
"•patron,'' was becoming a btjre with his inel- 
aiicholy ideas. These men and women who 
wore afterwards destined to find themselves 
united in the desire for a war with Prussia 
were unconsciously precipitating their own ruin 
as well as that of their countr3\ The '^patron " 
bored them then, as he would bore them later 
when he attempted vainly to oppose the dis- 
astrous campaign for which they clamored. 

They were the most violent and the most 
imperious in 1866, as they were the most im- 
perious and the most violent in 1870 and suc- 
ceeded in convincing the advisers of the sove- 
reigns that the anticipated dangers were im- 
aginary, that the reluctance and sadness of the 
Emperor meant nothing serious, and that it 
was even policy in spite of the gravity of the 
situation in Europe, to affect carelessness and 
gaiety. 

This carelessness was practised at the Tuil- 
eries after Sadowa and the courtiers amused 
themselves thoroughly and the customary suc- 
cession of fetes went on without intermission. 



10 NAPOLEON 111. AND LADY STUART. 

The time was then drawing near for tlie 
Exposition Universelle of 1867, and it was de- 
sired that the inauguration of this Exposition 
should have a special iclat, should be in fact 
the apotheosis of the Imperial Court. 

From that time, all obstacle to i)leasure 
having disappeared, tlie men became moie 
gallant or witty, according to their tastes, ele- 
gant dancers or impassioned lovers ; the women 
cast to the winds the scruples which they had 
for a time simulated, and pressed with increased 
eagerness iu the steps of the Empress or her 
most favored adherents. 

At this time, i.e. towards the end of the 
year 1866, at one of the fetes given at the 
Tuileries, Lad\^ Stuart, by which name I shall 
refer to lier, wliose history I am going to relate 
in these pages, made her first appearance at 
Court. 

Lady Stuart, who soon became known at the 
Chateau^ by the more familiar and intimate 
name of the Countess Ellen, had already left 
her native countr}', England, and had estab- 
lished herself in Paris. 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 11 

At tliat time, properly speaking, she had no 
history ; however, aside from the notoriety 
which slio had gained by her beauty and grand 
style of living in Loudon— a notoriety which 
every great mondaine acquires as a matter of 
course— there was a sort of mystery in her life 
and this mystery, imperfectly guessed at and 
badly understood, added to her attractions in the 
eyes of the habitues of the Tuileries, as well as 
in those of the aristocratic society of that period. 
Scandal-mongers or calumniators had en- 
deavored to spread a story about her, saying 
that she was an ostracized woman who had fled 
from a society wearied of her charms, that she 
was a high-class adventuress foisted upon the 
Parisian world and the Imperial salons, in the 
interests of the Bi'itish government. But 
these reports were only timidly whispered. 
As a matter of fact. Lady Stuart was of too 
good a family to permit a rash belief in the 
stories of which she was the object; besides 
beiii"" in too good odor at the British Embassy 
to allow of her playing the political role of 
which she was suspected. 



12 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

The proverb says that there is never smoke 
without fire. This proverb might have been 
applied to Lady Stuart, and if the lovers of 
tittle-tattle and intrigues were not entirely 
correct in their facts in speaking of her, there 
Avere some indications which might have led 
them to this belief. 

Tall, slender, very dark and very beautiful, 
remarkable above all for the beauty of her 
shoulders and her arms, which according to the 
expression of an admirer, or a lover perhaps, 
must have been bestowed upon her b}- the devil, 
she made her entree at the Taileries like a mar- 
vellous apparition from Fairyland, and from 
the moment of her arrival evoked a sincere en- 
thusiasm among the courtiers. 

Speaking French with a real purity of 
diction, and almost without any accent, she at 
once raised herself to a level far above the mob 
of exotic feminity which crowded the salons 
of the Empress, and took her station among 
the foremost ladies of the Court circle. 

Although her establishment in Paris might 
almost be called modest, she never seemed to 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 13 

miss llie greater inagiiiticence of her existence 
in London, and proudly bore what some whis- 
pered was her ruin but which they never would 
have dared to call her downfall. 

Her past, imperfectly known, was simple. 

Descended in an almost direct line from the 
hist kings of Ireland, she had united herself 
in marriage to Lord Stuart, one of the highest 
noblemen in the British peerage, but her mar- 
ried life had not been happy. 

Very autocratic herself, she chafed at the 
absolute autocracy of her husband, and after 
living together for some years without the su- 
preme and often redeeming consolation of a 
child, she separated from him, only returning to 
his side to fulfil those social obligations which 
are so imperative among the English. 

It seemed as if the uncongenial life which 
had thus been made for her, could never change 
for the better, when an accident changed her 
whole existence. 

Lord Stuart was found one morning dead 
in bed. As he had retired the night before in 
excellent health, had never suffered from heart 



14 NAPOLEON in. AND LADY STUART. 

or brain troubles, and as the physicians who 
were summoned under the circumstances, did 
not know to what cause to attribute his death, 
the world was astonished and suspicious ; and 
if the young wife who did not seem to grieve 
in the least for the loss of her husband escaped 
open and vulgar scandals, a mystery surrounded 
her — tliis mystery which was to excite so much 
malice in Paris. 

Lady Stuart, however, did not disquiet her- 
self about the attitude of society towards her 
after the death of her husband. 

She had insisted on an autopsy being held, 
and as the hostile examination of science 
proved fruitless to discover any grounds of sus- 
picion she had resolutely defied the threats 
which confronted her. 

The death of Lord Stuart, however, was 
easily explained and resulted from very well- 
known causes. 

Violently in love with his wife, and keenly 
alive to her superb physical charms, the ex- 
citement of their last meeting had precipitated 
an attack of apoplexy which proved fatal. 



NAPOLEON ni. AND LADV STUART. 15 

The young wife explained tlie sudden death 
of her husband as due to undue excitement, 
and it is wise, even just perhaps, to accept 
her version without question. 

Free, henceforth, Lady Stuart lost no time 
in arranging for her new existence and tlie 
long-desired independence which her widow- 
hood conferred upon her. 

She wound up her affairs, realized her for- 
tune and traveled. When she returned to 
London, the suspicions which had attached to 
her name had subsided. She became audacious ; 
she presented herself at some of the houses 
which formerly were always open to her power 
and her beauty, and although at first there 
was some surprise, the world soon received her 
as before, and around her and for her it was 
again a modernized history of Panurge and his 
sheep. People appeared to have forgotten the 
mysterious death of Lord Stuart and the world 
paid her homage. 

She might have profited by the situation, re- 
opened her house in London and have resumed 
her life of the year before. But this was not 



16 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

liei intention. Having received from English 
society, the circle to which she belonged, a 
justification and a rehabilitation, she did not 
linger in her own country, and announced soon 
that she had resolved to take up her residence 
in France, at Paris. 

It was about the month of September, 1866 
— that year so fruitful in dramatic events and 
mournful presages— that Lady Stuart first oc- 
cupied a charming hotel in the Champs-Elysees. 

The greater part of those who saw her estab- 
lishment, saw nothing in her arrival but the ad- 
vent of a beautiful and free woman, upon whom 
it would be agreeable to smile ; they saw noth- 
ing in her but a coquette fascinated with the 
life of Paris. The rumors which represented 
her as a political spy, found but few listeners, 
and these shrugged their shoulders incredu- 
lously. 



CHAPTER II. 

As a matter of fact no one could know the 
reason that actuated Lady Stuart in taking a 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADV STUAKT. 1( 

position ill the Parisian world, and neither 
those who affected in their ignorance to con- 
sider her as a woman simply devoted to pleas- 
ure, or those who snp[)Osed her to be playing 
the rnle of a political spy, had any certain 
knowledge. 

Tlic first care of the yonng lady after having 
•established herself in her new dwelling, was to 
request the British Ambassador to take steps 
for her presentation at the Tuileries, not the 
ordinary and easily obtained admission, of 
which so many were granted for the solemn re- 
ceptions which took place two or three times a 
year, but a personal and special presentation, 
which could not be forgotten. 

In acting thus Lady Stuart had an end in 
view and was following out the course which 
she had laid down for herself. 

Very ambitious, very haughty, fond -of power 
iind undisputed homage, when she married Lord 
Stuart she had hoped that on account of the 
high position in which her marriage Avould 
jjlace her she would shine in the front rank of 
the women of the English aristocracy. This 



18 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

hope hud been realized in part; but that which 
she loved above all, that which she passionately 
desired: to rule others as much by the power 
of her beauty, as by the sovereignty of a real 
social supremacy, had been denied to her. She 
had desired that her husband should be one of 
the great officers of tlie State ; she had wished 
to be the dreaded and envied companion of a 
statesman. But the noble lord insisted, in spite 
of her tears and reproaches, to decline any 
official position, or to take part in the affairs of 
his country, and she thought this disappoint- 
ment of her plans a cruel deception. 

In coming to Paris, she had determined to 
begin her life anew and to live according to the 
plans which she had formerly determined upon 
in her own mind. 

But we cannot say that she acted upon any 
clearly-defined j)lan of action ; nor can it be 
affirmed that any particular choice determined 
her conduct. But she was beautiful, rich and 
clever, and there were so many feared and 
envied men at tiiat time, who were drifting on 
the tide of fortune towards unknown destinies,. 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUAKT. 19 

tliat she thought one of them might be cast at 
her feet by a chance wave, one wlio would be- 
witch lier, one who would aid her in the proud 
realization of her desires and ambition, in that 
which had liithcrto been but a chimera. 

She disdained to be only a woman of fashion, 
of whom the world would talk for a day or a 
week, wliose memory would soon fade in that 
Parisian fog in which so many beautiful 
women, so many charming shadows, passion- 
ate or cold — brunettes or blondes, — are lost, 
and wlio follow one another like an unending 
procession of ephemeral apparitions in a stere- 
opticon. • 

She had no desire to be a female politician in 
the service of her country, one of those 
equivocal personalities who are only approached 
with caution, and whose favor is dreaded as a 
sliameful evil. 

She wished to be herself — herself, simply, 
but absolutely. She wished to be the friend — 
wife or mistress, slie would not have been able 
to say which, — of a man who would have suf- 
ficient moral force and reputation to give her a 



20 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

high position in the eyes of the world — in the 
regular or irregular order of things — as an 
envied woman — whose hate was feared and 
friendship sought. 

And in the conception of her dream, she did 
not ask herself whether the strongest affections 
and passions are durable and do not soon de- 
cline and cease to exist ; if the radiant promises 
of the hours which saw their birth are not fol- 
lowed by the fatal overthrow of the deepest and 
most fondly cherished hopes. She had a goal 
and saw but this goal, she smiled in the inso- 
lence of her beauty, intoxicated with the cer- 
tainty of the arrival of that favorable oppor- 
tunity, which would give her the spring-time 
of life, and gratify the ambition which had 
once been stifled under the gloomy London 
sky. 

In every aspect of her character Lady Stuart 
appeared to be, physically and morally, an ad- 
venturess. But in her own house, this charac- 
ter of adventuress, even, was not exempt from 
a certain grandeur. Although an egoist as 
are all noble natures, she thought no evil : her 



NATOLKON HI. AND l>AI)V STUART. 21 

great desire fnv the gratification of her ambition 
had nothing' shann'ful in it, and as she did not 
confide it to the outside world, it would, indeed, 
be too puritanical to blame her for her designs. 

The period at which Lady Stuart first made 
her appearance as a new and brilliant constella- 
tion in the firmament of the Parisian and Im- 
perial festivities, was propitious for the fulfill- 
ment of her dream. 

It really seemed then as if a young, beautiful 
and clever woman, had only to wish to be loved, 
to liave the wish divined and gratified : she had 
only to single out a man among all those who 
fluttered in a whirl of thoughtlessness and 
pleasure, at the foot of the throne, and the for- 
tunate individual would cast himself at her 
feet. 

Paris and the Court, for those who only 
desired to make love and had nothing but love 
to offer in return, was full of young fools who 
devoted themselves to an elegant and amorous 
life, and with as much ardor as does a belle to 
her daily toilet. 

Whilst in Paris there was an incessant orgy 



22 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

of cloying sensual pleasure ; it was at the Court 
that the wildest license prevailed. Notwith- 
standing the fact that the Empress herself re- 
mained uncontaminated amid all these tempt- 
ations, first encouraging and then driving to 
the verge of despair those who had the misfor- 
tune to conceive a passion for herself, she 
ruled over this tumultuous crowd like an 
ancient idol, indifferent to the mass of victims 
offered at its shrine, and smiled alike at the 
misery of those who lacked success in this love 
chase, and the overweening vanity of those who 
triumphed. 

Nearly every woman who was brought in 
contact with this rabble, was destined before- 
hand for ruin, was in fact, lost, and belonged 
no longer to herself. A peculiar atmosphere 
existed then at the Tuileries. Pathological ob- 
servers declare that when a man, sound in body 
and mind, is subjected to a certain influence, as 
regards unaccustomed and surrounding scenes, 
he can — and often will, — succumb to the in- 
fluences to which he is subjected, to the scenes 
by which he is surrounded. These observers 



NAl'OLKON III. AND LADY STUART. 23 

-jiffirin, fur instance, that a perfectly sane man, 
can and even must go mad if lie is compelled to 
consort with madmen. This physiological and 
psvchological phenomenon was exem})lified at 
the Tiiileries, among the women who were the 
habitual frequenters of the Court. Exposed to 
the scarcely concealed desires of the men, and 
the atmosphere of feverish sensuality which 
prevailed at the Chateau, and which intoxicated 
their poor little frivolous souls, as much as 
though they had already yielded, they no 
longer had the power to resist, and had not the 
strength to offer a serious defense ; the instinct 
of modesty, which is so strong with women, 
even though fallen beyond redemption, aban- 
doned them and in a weak moment they fell. 

There were certainly at the Tuileries and I 
wish to repeat it once more, women who were 
above reproach, who were unmoved by the 
solicitations of those who desired their favors, 
as there are in spite of the assertions of savants, 
people who, although they live with madmen, 
remain sane ; but these women could rely upon 
themselves, and did not really belong to those 



24 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

who were justly called, the '' Women of the 
Tuileries.'' 

Ladj Stuart — the Couutess Ellen — when she 
appeared at the Court, found naturally enough 
that she was besieged by these Don Juans who 
devoted themselves indefatigably to love- 
making. But she was of a diiferent nature 
to that which characterized the women with 
wliom she was to associate, and knew how to 
be deaf to appeals, and to keep herself free 
from reproach. 

Destiny had in store for her a more exalted 
intrigue, than the commonplace ones which 
sprang up and died every day at the Tuileries 
and was more cruel to her than to those who 
liad nothing to weep for but the short duration 
of an intrigue. 

In gaining access to the Tuileries she had 
resolved to pay no attention to the exclusively 
worldly element among the men, an element 
which was in high favor in the circle of the 
Empress. 

She knew that among these pleasure -loving 
men there were others, not less attractive, who 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 25 

devoted themselves to the nobler and more in- 
tellectual ambition of achieving power and 
station. Slie knew that these men hovered 
around the Emperor and it was on them that 
slie decided to concentrate her efforts. 

The ministerial and diplomatic circles of that 
day were composed of men who were nearly all 
of the highest rank and most brilliant intellect. 

It mattered little to Lady Stuart, whether the 
man who should realize her beautiful dream of 
the year before, and should make her what she 
earnestly desired, — a successful woman — was 
Fiench or a foreigner. 

Like the Empress before her — that Empress 
wliose every desire was to-day, fulfilled, — she 
wished to leave far behind her, with a hatred 
of her unlucky lot up to the present time, the 
ostentatious vanities of hor former existence, in 
order that she might raise herself above other 
women, and rule them with all tlie power of 
her intellect. Like the Empress again, she 
entered the lists witli a smile on her face, equal 
to any fortune, and indifferent wliether the 
macrician who should draw her from her com- 



26 NAPOLKoX 111. AND LADY STUART. 

parative obscurity were young or old ; whether 
ambassador, minister, prince or king, — provided 
that this magician made his appearance, and 
placed the magic potion to her lips which would 
transfigure her. 



■ CHAPTER III. 

The morality of Lady Stuart was certainly 
not in conformity with that which directs or ap- 
pears to direct ordinary humanity. But as it 
was developed in all its cynical frankness at a 
Court which was but little inspired by the 
austere principles which are binding upon the 
world generally — that honest world which 
hears without noticing, and which looks with- 
out seeing — her morality was not altogether 
without excuse and was even in a sense, 
logical. 

It was at a fete given in the winter of 1866, 
that Lady Stuart leaning on the arm of the Brit- 
ish Ambassador, entered the Tuileries. 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 27 

She looked marvellously beautiful and created 
a sensation. Old courtiers as they looked at 
her almost believed themselves carried back to 
the days when the Comtesse de Castiglione con- 
trasted her classic beauty with the not less per- 
fect beauty of the Empress, and haughtily and 
triumphantly passed through the ranks of the 
agitated courtiers. 

The greater part of the women — a flatterer 
would say all the women — who formed the 
usual circle of the Empress, were lovely, but 
to the Comtesse de Castiglione and Lady Stuart 
was unanimously awarded the palm for pre- 
eminence in beauty. 

It is well known that in order to see the 
Comtesse de Castiglione, when she passed 
through the salons at Court, all etiquette was 
forgotten, the courtiers crowded, and jostled 
one another, and even stood on the benches, 
covered with red velvet and embroidered in 
gold, which lined the walls, and formed a hedge 
around her as if she had been a Queen. 

Lady Stuart was received with the same 
enthusiasm and the same murmur of admiration, 



28 NAPOLEON 111. AND LADY STUART. 

and she was promptly and prettily nicknamed the 
" Countess Ellen " — when she made her appear- 
ance at Court in the company of the dis- 
tinguished statesman who presented her. 

There was such a crush in her direction when 
she entered supported by her escort, on the way 
to the salon where the Emperor and Empress 
were, that the ambassador was obliged to stop 
and wait until he was permitted to continue on 
his way. 

In spite of the sudden block caused by the 
sensational appearance of the 3^oung lady, her 
escort smiled and leaning towards her said in 
English : — 

" People here are accustomed to seeing hand- 
some women, but notwithstandiug madame, as 
you see, they are astounded at your beauty." 

In tlie presence of this new arrival, a possible 
object for their pursuit, the men were enrapt- 
ured and those who were the most famous for 
their gallantr}^ and for success in their in- 
trigues, promptly marked her for their own. 

The women were very uneasy at sight of the 
beautiful English woman, and formed an 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 29 

alliance against her with a sort of instinct of 
self-preservation, from the first moment of her 
appearance. They divined that this new comer 
belonged to the class of conquerors, and that 
she would require her share — a large share — in 
the pleasure which was lavished upon them 
daily. So jealous were they of her that they 
were scarcely able to refrain from showing 
their feelings, being restrained from doing so, 
only by the usages of polite society, and they 
received her with the coldness of antagonists 
ready for the fray. 

However, the presentation of Lady Stuart to 
the Emperor and Empress had been distin- 
guished by too much favor from royalty, to per- 
mit of the young woman being openly slighted, 
and as the Duchesse de Bassano Lady-of-Honor to 
the Empress, who was sometime after succeeded 
by Coratesse Walewska, made honeyed speeches 
to her— a thing of which she was somewhat 
chary — people understood that it was better 
perhaps to accept with at least a semblance of 
favor the new star which had risen in the fir- 
mament of the Tuileries, but that it would also 



30 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

be better not to proffer their assistance in 
securing her an influential position at Court, a 
place which she seemed well able to gain for 
herself in spite of all opposition and hostility. 

Lady Stuart was not the first one who had 
been the object of the envy of the ladies of the 
Court. Each time that a prepossessing woman 
attempted to force herself into the circle of 
their intimacies or worldly pleasures, they 
treated her as an enemy, organized petty con- 
spiracies against her and threw every obstacle 
in the way of the dcbutaiite. If, then, the 
woman so received, was either timid or sensitive 
she was frightened and discouraged, gave up 
the idea of becoming a member of the charmed 
circle as either illusory or too difficult of attain- 
ment, and retired leaving the field free for her 
adversaries. But if the w'oman who found her- 
self confronted with all those petty meannesses 
which can be concocted in a feminine coterie 
bent upon malicious mischief, was a daring and 
determined opponent, she was not long in 
silencing evil tongues, in breaking up coalitions, 
and in taking her place among those whose posi- 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 31 

tion was assured, feared us she was, all the more 
for having bravely withstood the attack made 
u{)on her. 

This ought to have been the case with Lady- 
Stuart, but to tell the truth she met with but 
few difficulties at the Chateau, in accurately 
defining her position, for the women composing 
the circle of the Empress were quick to per- 
ceive that she was not one of those who is 
easily repulsed, or ignored as insignificant. 

Women, to whatever grade of society they 
belong, are like collegians, hostile to a new pro- 
fessor or a freshman. Collegians test a fresh- 
mau or professor by hazing him or playing 
practical jokes upon him. If the victim re- 
mains passive, resigned and submissive, he will 
liave no peace. Tortures are reserved for him 
in I he future which will wring shouts and tears 
from him. But if the man thus put to the test 
proves to be a sturdy antagonist and resents the 
treatment he receives, he will lead by the nose 
the pack which formerly howled at his heels. 

Such are women in their relations with men 
and in their contact with their sisters. Tiiey 



32 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

fear or love those who defy them and humiliate 
them, losing even, in their enforced amiability, 
the recollection of the time when they were 
leagued against the man or woman who is now 
their acknowledged leader. 



CHAPTER IV. 

On the night of the presentation of Lady 
Stuart at the Tuileries, there was one of those 
delicious fetes, at which all the guests usually 
lost in the promiscuous gathering at the great 
official receptions, recognized one another and 
met on the common ground constituted by a 
similarity of tastes and sentiments. 

Mmes. de Metternich, de Pourtales, de Galli- 
fet, Drouyn de Lhuys, de Chasseloup-Laubat, 
Pereira, Bartholoni, de Persignj^ and many 
others, surrounded the admired and radiant 
Empress like a border of blooming flowers, in 
their light and many-hued toilettes, enhanced 
by the glitter of the jewels which flashed on 
their bosoms or were twined in their hair. 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART, 33 

A perfect galaxy of men, worldlings, and 
statesmen, hovered around them, or, broken up 
into groups, chatted as they walked through 
the salons. 

The Emperor, with his usual heavy and de- 
liberate step, musing with eyelids downcast, 
from beneath which he flashed an occasional 
glance, and pulling his mustache, came and 
went among the crowd, vouchsafing a word to 
a particular friend, smiling on a woman abashed 
at finding herself suddenly in front of him, 
while still perchance, agitated by the memory 
of a recent intimacy, long sought, quickly 
passed, and without a morrow. 

The men were dressed a lafrancaise, in black 
coats, carrying under their arms black felt 
cocked hats, profusely trimmed with silk braid, 
court swords at their sides. They wore knee 
breeches, shoes with silver buckles, and were 
attired similarly to Napoleon III., who only 
donned the uniform of General of Division on 
the occasion of grand receptions when the rep- 
resentatives of Commerce, Industry and Finance 
were admitted to the Court. The effect gave 
3 



34 NAPOLEON ITI. AND LADY STUART. 

the salons a tone of sombre, colorless, subdued 
elegance, which was relieved by the brilliancy 
and splendor of the military uniforms, and of 
those of the officers as well as of the Chamber- 
lains of the Tuileries. 

The costume of the Chamberlains was in 
truth superb. It consisted of a red coat, a la 
frangaise, embroidered with gold, waistcoat and 
trousers of white satin, white silk stockings, a 
cocked hat with white feathers, and sword for 
the Emperor's household. The only difference 
in the uniform for the household of the Empress 
was a light blue coat. 

Lady Stuart although she had seen the mag- 
nificence at the English Court, where the 
dresses are those which were in fashion in the 
days of Henry VIII., was dazzled when she was 
suddenly confronted with the many-colored 
crowd which filled the Tuileries. 

Having been invited by the Empress to take 
her place in her " circle,'* she seated herself and 
conversed with the sovereign as well as with 
the ladies who accompanied her. 

This conversation, according to the Countess 



NAPOLEON 111. AND LADY STUART. 35 

Ellen, who here confirms what 1 have already 
stated, regarding feminine gossip at the Tuil- 
eries, was, that evening, what it alwa3's was — 
trivial or sometimes animated by a sudden spasm 
of gaiety excited by some anecdote or frivolous 
remarks, the anecdotes always referring to the 
scandal of the city and the boudoirs, and the re- 
marks applying to the male element concerned. 

Lady Stuart had occupied for some time the 
seat to which the Empress had invited her, 
when the Emperor advanced towards what w^as 
called, "the women's corner," more irrever- 
ently, the "seraglio," or the "alcove," and 
having spoken to some of the ladies, turned to 
the new arrival. Then in the low drawling 
voice wiiich characterized him, he said to her : 

" Would it be agreeable to you, madame, to 
make the tour of the salo7is with me ? " 

And with a smile qualifying such a trivial 
and commonplace observation, he added : 

"This is what people in France call the walk 
of the master of the house, when he is at home 
and has a pretty woman leaning on his arm. 
We have the tour of the salons, the tour of the 



36 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

waltz, the tour of the hike, in truth we have all 
kinds of tours." 

The women who heard this somewhat com- 
monplace wit of the Emperor and his execrable 
attempt at a pun, laughed approvingly. 

But the Empress, who was watching her hus- 
band, and who seemed uneasy, broke in on the 
merriment, with the remark : 

" There are also the naughty tours, sire ; has 
your Majesty overlooked them?" 

Napoleon III. looked very calmly at his com- 
panion, and replied : 

" I have not forgotten them, but pass them by 
as they are no longer for us." 

And graciously addressing himself to the 
listening ladies, he added : 

" Isn't that the case, ladies ? " 

These words were spoken lightly, but those 
who knew the relations existing between the 
Empress and her husband, foresaw the near ap- 
proach of a quarrel. 

The Empress in fact had never been able to 
reconcile herself to her husband's gallantries 
with the habitual frequenters of the Tuileries, 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 37 

and above all with those who were new arrivals 
at the Court, and terrible scenes occurred be- 
tween the Emperor and Empress, caused by a 
light word whispered in a coquettish ear, at a 
soirie. 

Lady Stuart, however, rose without appear- 
ing to understand the annoj'^ance of the Empress, 
and placing her arm within that of the Emperor, 
she smilingly walked away with him, much 
gratified by the honor paid her, and enjoying 
the surprise evinced by the guests, who, 
•equally astonished at the unwonted honor con- 
ferred by Napoleon III. on this woman, bowed 
before her as she passed, already seeing in her a 
favorite whose influence might be useful to them. 

The English ambassador and the Duke de 
Persigny, who were chatting together at the 
time, saw the couple majestically glide past them. 

M. de Persigny paused abruptly in wliat he 
•was saying, and frowning, said : 

" I compliment you my Lord, you have, or 
rather others are gaining for you, all the honors 
of the evening." 

The diplomatist who knew the brusqueness 



38 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

of M. de Persigny, simply smiled and without 
remarking on the stress which the former had 
laid on the word "others," replied : 

" I assure you, Duke, that I have not sought 
them. You are too suspicious, and you should 
sometimes think of our old device : — ' Honi 
soit qui mal y petise.^ " 

Whilst M. de Persigny and the noble lord 
were holding this conversation, MM. de Metter- 
nich and Nigra who had been inseparable and 
unwearying in their attentions to each other 
since Sadowa, were chatting as they watched 
the Emperor and Lady Stuart. 

All of a sudden, M. de Metternich murmured 
in a low voice, " Isn't it strange about that 
woman ? " 

"No," observed M. de Nigra, "she is only a 
woman, and is playing her part as a woman. 
She is doing it well, that is all." 

" What, do you think ? " 

"I think nothing, but would you like me tO' 
tell you a fable ? " 

" Tell it." 

" You are aware that a popular superstition 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 39 

says that when you see a shootiug star at night, 
you should make a vow. Now, what vow 
would you make in the presence of this woman 
passing us ? " 

" You embarrass me." 

" Well, I will answer for you. I would 
swear never to love her." 

" It is for the Emperor that you say this? " 

" Yes and no. Isn't the Emperor in love 
with all women ? " 

M. de Metternich looked as if he were jok- 
ing, as he said : 

" You should be the last, Nigra, to blame him 
for that." 

]M. Nigra's eyes flashed. " I beg your par- 
don," he said a little nervously, " as far as I am 
concerned, I don't love all women." 

M. de Metternich, who was hopelessly in love 
with the Empress Eugenie, and who was well 
aware of the passion of the young sovereign 
for his colleague, and the indifference with 
which he had always viewed her preference, bit 
his lips and changed the conversation to a less 
delicate subject. 



40 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

While this was going on, Lady Stuart, who 
was afterwards informed by the Ambassador of 
Austria, of the conversation that he had with 
Nigra, continued her stroll around the salons 
with the Emperor. 

Napoleon III., who did not talk much when 
in the company of men, became animated in 
the presence of a beautiful woman. This even- 
ing he was very gracious with Lady Stuart. 

Walking very slowly, he conversed with her, 
and listened to her replies, happy to forget the 
cares of his station, and making the most of the 
pleasant time at his disposal. 

As the Emperor loved all women, according 
to the somewhat sarcastic remark of M. Nigra, 
he was easily beguiled b}^' any attractive person, 
who could, in consequence, boast of the delight 
— even though ephemeral — of knowing him in- 
timately. 

Lady Stuart who was surpassingly beautiful, 
had an easy task with him, and if she had only 
desired the joy and pride which contented so 
many other wonien, it would not have taken 
long to realize her wishes. 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 41 

But the Emperor when in her society experi- 
enced an uneasiness and a charm which was not 
altogetlier attributable to the senses. 

Napoleon III., habitually derived more phys- 
ical than mental pleasure from his love affairs. 
Notwithstanding this he had some lasting 
liaisons which were not entirely dependent upon 
animal passion. He loved some women, only a 
few it is true, for reasons other than their phys- 
ical charms, among whom M'ere Mme. de Castig- 
lione, Mme. de Mercy-Argenteau, and one or 
two others whom I will not name. Clever 
women, they carried on with the Emperor not 
only a love affair, but an exchange of wit, and 
it is safe to say that if he was so much attached 
to them, it was attributable to a great extent to 
the charms of their minds displayed in their re- 
lations with him. 

It would not be unnatural to wonder that 
Napoleon III. counted so few women remark- 
able for their intellect among his favorites, 
since he encouraged the introduction to him of 
women who were his equals intellectually. 

In fact, it appears that the Emperor was far 



42 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

from desiring only the gratification of his 
sensual impulses, and had systematically elim- 
inated it from his life. The reason of this is 
easy to explain. 

The Empress Eugenie had wearied her hus- 
band by an intimacy free from true passion, 
full of unpleasantnesses and scoldings, and had 
caused him to become distrustful of women, a 
foe to effusion of any kind, and to dread the 
direct contact of his mind with that of a 
woman. 

Disappointed in his conjugal hopes, he had 
flitted from brunette to blonde, according to 
the whim of the moment, desirous of finding 
in this sort of indiscriminate love-making, the 
gratification of his dominant impulses, and ob- 
livion for the hurts which his wife had already 
inflicted and still continued to inflict upon him. 

He had demanded only from a woman the 
sweetness and emotion of her sex, and had 
wished for nothing more. 

However, his intellect had caused him to de- 
part from this course in two or three instances. 
Thus had arisen his liaisons with Mnie. de 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 43 

Castiglione, and Mine, cle Mercy-Argenteau — 
this last lady having nearly run her course as a 
beauty — and Lady Stuart might have been one 
of those who whilst he feared them, he had not 
the strength of mind to repulse, when he met 
them unexpectedly, in the unforeseen events of 
his life. 

During this evening, his conversation with 
the Countess Ellen was trivial and common- 
place and she followed his example. 

However, he questioned her, and found out 
what he desired to know. He saw that she was 
a wonderful conversationalist, as well as an ex- 
tremely clever woman, and I would add, if 1 
did iK^t fear to be impertinent that when he led 
her back to her seat, he was conquered. 

His last remark as he left her was insinua- 
ting : it was one of those speeches for which 
some women would have ruined themselves, if 
he had addressed it to them. 

" I hope that the Tuileries please you 
madam," said the Emperor to his companion. 

"Very much, sire," was the reply of the 
Countess Ellen. 



44 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

And she added : — " The Emperor having 
deigned to honor me with his friendship, why 
should it not be pleasing to me ? " 

A pale, inscrutable smile — that inscrutable, 
pale smile which hovered so often on the lips of 
the sovereign, rested on Napoleon's mouth, and 
with a friendly gesture he murmured : 

" In that case, madam, I count on seeing you 
again." 

Then, with a slow and even step he left her 
and mingled with some of the groups which 
were scattered through the salons. 

If Lady Stuart was feeling triumphant at the 
success of her debut, no one would have known 
it from her manner as she composedly joined 
the ladies in the circle of the Empress. 

She even feigned not to notice the whisper- 
ings, and the looks which were directed at 
her, and preserving a friendly demeanor to- 
wards all, she seemed to consider the honor 
which the sovereign had paid her, a very natural 
thing and of no importance. 

Even the Empress, suspicious as she was, 
feeling reassured by her calmness, received her 



NAI'OLKON Iir. AND LADY STUART. 45 

graciousl}', and when at the end of the evening, 
the English Ambassador gave her his arm to 
lead her away, her triumph was complete. 

As she left the room, one of the habitues of 
the Tuileries made a remark characteristic of 
the philosophy professed at the Court — regard- 
ing the reception of the young woman at the 
Tuileries, and the favor shown her. 

Winking significantly, he whispered in a low 
voice in the ear of a friend, in the somewhat 
cynical license of language in use at the 
Chateau : 

'' One more for the ' patron ' to-day : one 
more for us to-morrow. Now is the time to 
make your game ! " 

The man addressed, shrugged his shoulders. 

" I think you are mistaken," said he. " I was 
watching that woman. Assuredly she will be 
for the '■patron^ but for no one else. With 
her, my friend, the game is made, and ' 7'ien ne 
va plus.'' " 

In the court-yard of the Tuileries, in front of 
the facade looking on the gardens, the car- 
riages belonging to the principal invited guests 



46 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

were drawn up, the coachmen and footmen be- 
ing grouped around enormous braziers, which 
blazed up and lent a reddish hue to the dark- 
ness of the night. 

As Lady Stuart made her appearance and 
walked towards the Ambassador's carriage, her 
radiant beauty was lit up by the light. 

The Ambassador said to her: "Have you 
amused yourself to-night madam? " 

The young lady made a vague gesture. 
*^ Amused myself, my lord," she replied, " I was 
interested.^^ 

And she glided into the darkness of the 
coupe, which was rapidly whirled away by the 
impatient horses. 



CHAPTER V. 

A FAVORITE. 

Lady Stuart in answering the English 
Ambassador, by saying that she had simply been 
interested by what she had seen and heard, was 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 47 

clever, fur she had tlius indicated her unwill- 
ingness to reveal the exact condition of her 
mind. She did not think it expedient, at that 
time to disclose the sentiments by which she 
might be inspired, or to appear to know those 
which she had inspired. 

She had, in truth, been more than interested 
during the evening which she had passed at the 
Chateau, and if she had entered it uncertain 
and as if committed to the current of events, as 
if questioning the circumstances which were to 
decide her fortune more or less rapidly, she left 
it joyously intoxicated with all the mad hope of 
a dream which had appeared unattainable to so 
many women. 

In the success which had carried her almost 
giddily to the highest position among all those 
ladies assembled that evening around the sov- 
ereigns, she had a distinct apprehension of her 
situation, and among all the men who had 
smiled on her and bowed to her, she had only 
seen and had only wished to see one man — the 
Emperor. At one prodigious leap, her hope, 
her ambition, her pride had attained a height 



48 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

from which she determined they should not de- 
scend. 

The Emperor appeared to her as he always 
was, good-natured, gracious, polite, although a 
little gloomy. He had paid her marked atten- 
tion and she was sufficiently familiar with 
courts to know that she might expect anything 
from this special mark of favor. 

The Emperor was not displeasing to her. 
He knew how to charm when he wished, and 
he had tried to fascinate her. However, the 
impression which he had made on her was but 
slight : recalling the tete-h-tete which she had 
had with him, she only felt and only desired to 
feel one thing, and that was, that Napoleon HI. 
would fall in love with her if she encouraged 
him to do so later on. 

This, for her was the important question : 
should she yield to the prayers of the Emperor, 
and become like so many others who had pre- 
ceded her, his mistress ? 

She knew the enormous facility which char- 
acterized love intrigues at the Tuileries. She 
knew that the greater part of the women who 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STl'ART, 40 

yielded to the sovereign, who responded to his 
appeal, were no sooner discarded, than they 
were snapped up. She was indignant at the 
thought of being treated like one of these 
women, and although she continued firm in her 
<lctermination to gain the affections of Napo- 
leon III., she was puzzled to devise some 
means b}' which she might be something more 
for him than the mere plaything of an hour. 

Lady Stuart was a very clever woman, but 
all her cleverness seemed to be paralyzed be- 
fore this unknown man who suddenly con- 
fronted her. 

The hesitation which troubled her had not 
otherwise brought about any apparent change 
ill her behavior in the regularity of her atten- 
tion to the world, and she had again appeared 
at the Tuileries since her presentation, either 
in the ordinary circle of the ladies of the court 
or at the regular Mondays of the Empress. 

Napoleon III. had continued his good officeSs 

and nothing in the studied reserve which he 

manifested in her presence seemed likely to^ 

terminate her suspense, when one afternoon 

4 



50 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUAKT. 

when she was at home musing, and perhaps 
ennuyce^ she was informed that a person who re- 
fused to give his name desired to speak with her. 

For a moment, Lady Stuart thought of re- 
fusing to see this person who interfered with 
her reflections and her repose : but she was 
morose and nervous : she only saw in the vis- 
itor a welcome relief offered by chance to tlie 
sadness of her thouglits, and she ordered him 
to be admitted. 

The man who then presented himself before 
her looked somewhat like a magistrate. Some- 
what vulgar in features although irreproachably 
dressed, a red ribbon in the button-hole of his red- 
ingote, a smiling and inquisitive eye, as tliough 
moved by machinery or instinctive habit, he ad- 
vanced towards the young lady and bowing 
profoundly, announced himself, as M. Hyrvoix. 

When she lieard the dreaded name of the 
chief of the Emperor's secret police, Lady 
Stuart involuntarily trembled, a fact which did 
not escape the cunning official and which evi- 
dently amused him, for a malicious smile curled 
his lip. The uneasiness of the Countess Ellen 



NAPULKON 111. AND LADV STL'AUT. 51 

was easily accounted fur. Having made a sen- 
sation at court she might fear anything, hence- 
fortli as she might in like manner hope for any- 
thing. She might fear that her beauty liad 
given umbrage to the Empress, that her tri- 
umph had displeased some influential person, 
that her position even as a stranger — a some- 
what mysterious stranger, playing almost the 
role of an adventuress, might liave been sus- 
pected, and that for one of these reasons or 
even for all the reasons, M. Hyrvoix might 
have paid her this visit, with a courteous order 
for her to leave Paris. 

The police officer read her apprehension and 
quickly dissipated it. 

''Reassure yourself, madam," said he, "in 
spite of my name, and my functions, I am to- 
day a messenger of peace, and I am not here 
to cause any trouble in your house." 

" Then, sir, you are welcome," replied the 
young woman, and assuming an air of frank- 
ness, she added, "kindly let me know the rea- 
son for your presence here." 

Before giving this explanation and seating 



o2 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUAKT. 

Jiimself, M. Hyrvoix cast a rapid glance around 
the room in which he was. It was a small room 
hung on all sides with tapestry. 

"I ask your pardon madam, for delaj'ing our 
conversation," said he, " but since that which I 
have to communicate to you is of a very deli- 
cate nature, and must be kept secret, I wish to 
be assured that there shall be no indiscreet lis- 
teners." 

Lady Stuart, very much puzzled, rose, went 
out of the room and came in again, almost im- 
mediately, and locked the doors. 

"I have given orders," she said, " that I am 
not to be disturbed under any pretext, and we 
have nothing to fear, as we are shut up here 
like two lovers." 

M. Hyrvoix with a comical and at the same 
time a respectful gesture, disclaiming any senti- 
mental feelings, drew near to the young lady in 
order to avoid the necessity of raising his voice, 
and confided to her the mission with which he 
had been entrusted. 

" His Majesty, the Emperor, has sent me to- 
you, madam," he began. 



NAPOLEON HI. AND LADY STUART. 53 

Lady Stuart in spite of herself, started, and 
her eyes Hashed. " His Majesty ? " 

'• Yes, iiiadam,"rejoiiied the police oflQcial, who 
still remarked the nervousness of his interlocu- 
tor. "His Majesty has deigned to command me 
to inform you that he is very much interested 
in you, and that he would very much like to 
have an interview with you." 

And very adroitly, pretending to have no 
doubt of the motives which actuated the Em- 
peror, he added : 

" You are a member, madam, of the highest 
circle of English society. During your resi- 
dence in London, you have made the acquaint- 
ance of a great many political personages. I 
believe that his Majesty desires to obtain from 
you some confidential information which 
would be useful to him, and that would 
not involve you in any act prejudicing the in- 
terests of your country." 

Lady Stuart was not the dupe of this ruse, 
or of the perfect correctness of the language, 
softening the extreme delicacy of the message 
which was sent to her. But following the 



64 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

example of M. Hyrvoix, she became an 
actress : 

" I am at the Emperor's orders, sir," she de- 
clared, " and will wait until he deigns to inter- 
rogate me." 

The police official continued : 

" His Majesty desires, madam, that the inter- 
view which you are kind enough to grant him 
should take place outside of the Tuileries ; 
would you object to the Emperor paying you a. 
visit to-morrow evening, in the most absolute 
incognito ? " 

Matters were coming to a sudden crisis and 
Lady Stuart became a little pale. 

" I repeat to you, sir, that I am ready to obey 
the orders of the Emperor. To-morrow I will 
give my servants a holiday and will be alone : 
he can come without fear of being compro- 
mised." 

As she said this, she bowed, but of a sudden 
she recovered herself, and appeared to be 
alarmed. 

" Do you know, sir, that this visit of the Em- 
peror makes me very uneasy. If in spite of all 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUAKT. 55 

proeautions he should be recognized entering 
my house or leaving it; if some misfortune or 
accident, I know not what, should befall him, 
or threaten him ; I am afraid, I confess, of the 
responsibility which I should incur in such an 
event. Do you not think that his Majesty 
would be imprudent to take such a step? " 

M. Hyrvoix made a gesture of indifference 
with his hand. 

" Have no fear, madam, for the safety of the 
Emperor. I shall be with his Majesty and know 
how to take care of him." 

Lady Stuart smiled softly. 

'• You are indeed, a devoted servant," she 
said. 

M. Hyrvoix who had risen and was about to 
leave the room, replied mockingly: 

"You will see, madam." He then left the 
young lady. 

When a servant came to announce to Lady 
Stuart that dinner was served, he found her 
stretched on the cushions in the same little 
room in which she had received M. Hyrvoix, 
and it was automatically that she went to the 



56 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

(lining-room, with her thoughts far away from 
her surroundings. She was alone. She touched 
none of the dishes offered to her ; she ordered 
champagne, drank two or three glasses and 
abruptly leaving the table, ran and locked her- 
self in her room, where, her nerves all unstrung, 
she threw herself on her bed and sobbed. The 
joys and sorrows of life have this singularity in 
common, that we often shed tears when ap- 
proaching them. Was this a joy or a sorrow 
which confronted Lady Stuart? She could not 
have answered this question ; but she paid her 
tribute to the mysterious future by weeping. 



CHAPTER VI. 

When the Emperor made his appearance the 
next day at the appointed hour, at the young 
lady's house, she was calm : she had a very 
well-defined idea of the long-wished for results 
which would be the consequence of this meet- 
ing. Ready to yield, she had resolved to place 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 57 

a price upon the surrender of her virtue, and it 
was with the most perfect confidence in a Last- 
ing liaison that she awaited her imperial visitor. 

What she had to fear was that the Emperor 
might, as he had dune with other women, hav- 
ing accomplished his purpose, forget her. As 
soon, in fact, as he was seated beside her, Na- 
poleon was tender and passionate, and gave lier 
to understand without much circumlocution or 
oratorical efifects, the feelings he entertained for 
her. 

Thus commenced, the interview could have 
but one result : a surrender which would be 
forgotten as soon as granted. 

Lady Stuart was well aware that if she trifled 
too long with the sovereign, in this excessively 
refined manner, that her projects would fail ; 
that her hopes would share the same fate as 
those of the others who had enjoyed the im- 
perial intimacy for a brief period and had been 
deceived. 

With a studied reserve and an amiable co- 
quetry, and ever on her guard she allowed the 
Emperor to address her : she listened to the 



58 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

avowal of his love as well as of his overmaster- 
ing passion ; but when he attempted to become 
bolder, she defended herself and with a clever 
finesse, again became mistress of the situation. 

Half laughing, half angry, she checked the 
ardor of her visitor : 

" Are you really sincere, sire," she said, " and 
are you not deceiving me and yourself, as to 
the importance and the real nature of the senti- 
ments which you entertain for me ? " 

The Emperor a little taken aback, stammered : 
" I assure you madam " 

" Yes, yes," replied Lady Stuart, "I know, 
I guess all that you are going to say to 
me — all that you have doubtless said to so many 
other women. It is just that that I do not wish 
to hear. I am not to be wooed like all 
women, or rather I do not respond in the same 
manner as they do to the tender speeches which 
are addressed to me." 

Napoleon III. who was more and more sur- 
prised and even vexed at the attitude of the 
young lady — an attitude for which he had 
been but ill prepared — tried to speak again, 



NAPOLEON HI. AND LADY STUART. 59 

but she did not allow him to recover him- 
self. 

" I am exphiiniiig myself," she continued ; 
" certainly, sire, I do not ignore the value of 
your affection. But I am also aware that if it 
brings a great and fleeting joy to some women 
it also is the cause to others less numerous, 
more sensitive and more solicitous for them- 
selves, — of griefs and regrets which are not 
ephemeral. You say you love me. I will not 
affect to conceal my feelings — it will be easy for 
me to meet your avowal by an identical con- 
fession. But in this community of ideas and 
sentiments which draws us together, lurks ex- 
actly the danger which menances us, the dan- 
ger which I wish to avoid. — You are inconstant, 
sire ; you have not even the strength to be 
faithful to one woman. You would be faithless 
to me if I yielded to your prayers, as you have 
been with others. You would perhaps forget 
me quicker than you have all the other women, 
because I surrendered more quickly, even though 
you have not forgotten those that you have fasci- 
nated. And if the moments which had been ours 



60 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

should fade from your memory, it would be 
gi'ievtjus to my heart and my pride. Ls it not bet- 
ter considering the inequality of feelings and 
position existing between us, that I should re- 
main as far as a more intimate relation is con- 
cerned, a stranger." 

The Emperor was not accustomed to meet 
with so eloquent a resistance, from the women 
wliom he honored with his notice at the Court. 
He realized that he had to deal with an un- 
common individuality, and in place of growing 
weary of listening to her, so far from being re- 
pulsed by this half refusal, it only inflamed his 
passion. 

Lady Stuart seemed to desire a decisive dec- 
laration, a promise which it would be impossi- 
ble for him to evade. He made no attempt to 
avoid this explanation, and in the words which 
he uttered and which are very curious, he made 
her the promise which she desired without hav- 
ing dared to formulate it. 

Rising from his seat and walking up and down 
the mom with his hands behind his back, he 
began to talk at first hurriedly, then more 



NAPOLKON III. AND LADY STUART. 61 

slowly und deliberately, and soon the sound of 
his voice which at first was harsh, became softer 
and, as it were, rliythniieal. 

"You are right, madam," he said, "you are 
not one of those women whom one abandons, 
and who serve for the satisfaction of a fleeting 
caprice. You are as clever as j'^oa are beauti- 
ful, and you deserve to be truly loved, and to 
inspire a lasting passion. It is thus that J de- 
sire to love you, and you are wrong in taunting 
me with the inconstancy which I have shown — 
1 d ) not deny it, on former occasions. Ah, this 
inconstancy with which I am reproached, if you 
knew the causes of it, if those even who have 
suffered from it, could have guessed the mo- 
tives for it, it would not appear to you, it 
would no longer appear to them, as blame- 
wortliy. A man can say many things, madam, 
to a woman, especially to a woman whom he 
desires to be his ; and I am going, if you will 
allow me, to make a confession. I am incon- 
stant, I seek and desire the caresses of woman : 
but why am I thus, why is there in me this 
ardent love of pleasure, never satiated, ever 



62 ISAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

reviving? It is a painful confession to make; 
but you will believe it for you are the only 
woman who has ever spoken to me as you have 
done. I haved loved, madam, profoundly, fool- 
ishly, and I was deceived. I staked my politi- 
cal fortune, my name, the prestige of my 
throne, the devotion of my partisans, against 
the heart of a woman, and in exchange for all 
these sacrifices, my reward was indifference. 
This is the secret of what is called my incon- 
stancy, and my numerous bonnes fortunes.''^ 

Lady Stuart who had been listening to the 
Emperor with interest and almost with terror, 
moved abruptly and an involuntary cry burst 
from her lips : 

•' How, sire, the Empress. . . I " 

Napoleon III, turned to her and stopping in 
his walk up and down the room, said somewhat 
harshly : 

" The Empress does not love me, madam, the 
Empress has never loved me. My case is com- 
mon I know, and I am not the only man whom 
fate treats thus. My fellow-sufferers generally 
seek relief for their bitter sorrow in drinking 



NAPOLEON Iir. AND LADY STUART. 63 

or gambling. A suvereigu can neither drink 
nor gamble, but there remains for him the fair 
sex. I flew to it, in the same way as the un- 
happ}- lover or husband has recourse to absin- 
the or the card-table. You see that my incon- 
stancy is easily accounted for and that there is 
nothing in it that a woman who is sincerely 
loved as I feel that I love you, need fear or for 
which she has a right to reproach me." 

The Emperor grew silent. Then he resumed 
his pacing up and down the room, doubtless 
waiting for Lady Stuart to recall him to her 
side. But the 3-oung lady leaning her elbow 
on a divan, was lost in thought, and her half- 
closed eyes seemed to be fixed upon a disquiet- 
ing vision. 

Napoleon III. broke the profound silence: 

" You do not answer me, madam," he said. 

Lady Stuart looked at him languidly. 

" What shall I say to you, sire," she mur- 
mured. "The confidence you have reposed in 
me, disquiets me and gives me pleasure at the 
same time. . . ." 

And as the Emperor advanced towards her 



64 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

she bowed, and added, keeping him at a dis- 
tance with outstretched arm : 

" I pity you and I love you." 

Napoleon III. attempted to possess himself 
of the hand which was lightly touching him. 
But Lady Stuart softly repulsed him, and said 
pleadingly: 

"Yes, I love you sire, but that confession does 
not mean that I am yours. I should certainly 
be happ}^, nay proud to afford you some happi- 
ness, to heal the wounds in your soul. But 
this is too high an honor for me and I dare not 
hope for it. I pray you, retire and leave me : 
I must reflect and ask myself, whether in giv- 
ing myself to you, in becoming your mistress — 
why should I shirk the word? — I shall be able 
to afford you the consolation j^ou deserve : for 
henceforth your happiness will be my only 
care." 

And she repeated : 

" I beg 5^ou leave me — I wish to be alone." 

The Emperor in the satisfaction which he 
felt in the thought that this woman would be 
his, that she morally belonged to him already 



NAI'OLIiUN 111. AND KADV STUART. 65 

even though his bliss was deferred fur a time, 
remained silent. The scene that Lady Stuart 
liad brought about made him timid, and he 
stammered like a bashful youth as he implor- 
ingly said : 

" How am I to see you again, madam, and 
learn your decision ?" 

The young woman allayed his uneasiness. 

" The next time that I go to the Tuileries, I 
Avill give you an answer, sire. If I wear no 
jewels, you maj- consider me your most faithful 
friend." 

The Emperor had wished to obtain a more 
formal promise, but he understood that Lady 
Stuart would grant him nothino- more at this 
first private interview than an enigmatical as- 
surance : and when he left her with the half 
certainty, w^hicli she had given him, he felt that 
the Countess Ellen had inspired him with an 
undying passion. 

However, the young woman, as she saw him 
leave her, was satisfied with herself, and the 
ability with which she had inflamed his pas- 
sion, and of the positive assurances he had 



6G NAPOLEON in. AND LADY STUAKT. 

given her as to the niiture and consequences of 
her future liaison. 

Lady Stuart had not deceived herself, in 
truth, regarding the feelings and impressions 
which she had excited in the breast of him 
who reigned at the Tuileries. He awaited her 
coming to the Chateau with feverish impa- 
tience ; and when she made her appearance a 
few days after the conversation which has just 
been related, he experienced a delicious thrill 
of delight. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The year 1866 ended with all Europe, nay, 
the world anticipating eagerly, the grand spec- 
tacle of the Exposition which the Empire had 
provided, and the opening of the Exposition 
was the signal for the redoubling of the fetes 
and follies at the Court. 

The Emperors and Kings who visited the 
Tuileries in those davs were dazzled and even 



NAJ'OJ-EUN III. AND LADV STLAUl'. G7 

somewhat frightened. These men and these 
women who presented themselves befure them 
ill all the incontestable charm of elegant friv- 
olities, surprised them ; and wliile they en- 
joyed the seductive society of these agreeable 
beings, they could not refrain from thinking 
that the courtiers of Napoleon III. were on 
the road to ruin. The Court appeared to the 
stranger like a reunion of males and females 
created for pleasure, with no thought but the 
enjoyment of the hour, and carried away by 
their passions. 

Men, no matter what their social condition 
— kings or citizens — are not puritans, and are 
not obstinate defenders of virtue, except when 
among themselves and under their own roof, 
they have special and personal reasons for ap- 
pearing severe. 

The rulers of States, whom Napoleon III. 
invited to his Court in 1867, rapidly recovered 
from the astonishment that they had felt at 
first at the attitude of the frequenters of the 
Tuileries, and as, after all, they had not come 
to Paris to be l)ored, they eagerly accepted the 



08 NAPOLEON 111. AND LADY STUART. 

eiitei'tainnients given in tlieir honor, and not 
<lis(laining even to join in them as actors, they 
amused themselves. 

When tlie Exposition was opened Lady 
Stuart had already for some time been the mis- 
tress of the Emperor. 

She succeeded at the Court of the sovereign, 
to a woman to whom he had long been de- 
voted; This woman — whom it is not necessary 
to name here — had herself taken the place of 
the famous Comtesse de Castiglione, in the 
affections of the Emperor, and, to a greater ex- 
tent tlian she, liad been his political adviser. 
Very beautiful, she was still mc>re remarkable 
for her talents, and notwithstanding certain in- 
cidents she had succeeded in attaching herself 
to Napoleon, while at the same time she was 
one of the inseparable fi-iends of the Empress. 
In addition to this the sovereign liad need of 
lier services more in an intellectual than a 
sensual capacity, and he had not hesitated to 
exert his authority openly to protect her 
against all attacks. Lady Stuart certainly 
could not have competed with her in the 



NAl'dLKOX III. AND LADY STUART. 69 

knowledge of politics. She did not attempt to 
do so, iind wisely contented herself with the 
offering of her caresses, permitting the Em- 
peror to continue the worldly and business 
relations with her rival which it would have 
been almost impossible for him to sever. 

The Exposition, in engrossing the time and 
attention of Napoleon III., and thereby plac- 
ing an enforced reserve on his liaison with 
Lady Stuart, by causing interruptions in his 
intimacy with her, had made of the young 
woman a mistress, who appreciated to the full 
her influence over him she loves, still she had 
never been able definitely to assert this power. 

In fact it was not until the close of the im- 
perial fetes that she exerted the full force of 
lier fascinations. 

Napoleon III. had certainly passed pleasant 
hours in the company of women, — with Mme. 
de Castiglioue, and with the person of whom I 
incidentally spoke above, — and towards the end 
of his reign with the Comtesse d'Argenteau, 
whose opinions and talents he also valued. 
But it may be aflirmed without fear of contra- 



70 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

diction, that he never was so happy with any 
of them as with Lady Stuart. 

This pleasure arose not only from the physical 
beauty of this woman, but from the manner in 
which this sensual beauty affected him. With. 
all the other women, — especially those whom I 
have just designated — for I do not count the 
ephemeral amours which a fleeting caprice cast 
into the arms of the sovereign — the passionate 
nature of the Emperor was always dominated 
by the habitual exchange of opinions on the 
political questions of the day, and it was in 
consequence of this peculiar condition which 
characterized his liaisons, that there was a sort 
of coldness or constraint, which fatally weak- 
ened his ardor. 

A woman, no matter how beautiful she may 
be, will never be the absolute mistress of her 
lover, if she seeks to impose on that lover a 
moral as well as a physical influence. A man 
will love such a w^oman, will unite his life with 
hers, will be unhappy if he is separated from 
her, but his joy or his sorrow w'ill be rather the 
result of his intellectual than his physical feel- 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 71 

ings — for his mind alone will be in sympathy 
with the mind of the woman, his love for her 
will be absolutely free from sensuality. A man 
may love such a woman, I repeat, but he will 
never have the feeling for her that he would 
experience for a woman who is loved on ac- 
count only of her physical attractions, that 
emotion excited by the human animal, if you 
will, wiio without speech or thought, magneti- 
cally attracts the male by the pure strength of 
lier superb animality — as the flower in full 
bloom, rich with subtle perfumes allures greedy 
insects with its juicy sap. 

Great voluptuaries do not insist upon a 
woman being clever. They only exact that she 
shall have the power to excite love. 

The Emperor was a great voluptuary, and as 
Lady Stuart did not trouble the relations which 
lie had with her, by any preoccupation foreign to 
the passion with which she inspired him, he 
found with her, more than with all her prede- 
cessors in his affections, the sweetness and the 
fervor which constitute a real passion. 

Only one woman, Margaret Belleng^, had 



72 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

ever been able to absorb the love of Napoleon 
III., in a like degree with Lady Stuart. Mar- 
garet Bellengt', resorted to no other art than 
the power of her caresses to enslave tlie Em- 
peror, and it was in this that lay her power in 
her liaison with him. 

When the great excitement on account of the 
Exposition had subsided at the Tuileries, the 
Emperor turned with renewed ardor to the so- 
ciety of his mistress. He met her frequently 
and passed many happy hours with her. 

It was now a year since Lady Stuart had 
been presented at Court, and it must be ac- 
knowleged that in that time she had made 
I'apid and triumphant progress. 

Her influence over Napoleon was so great 
that she scarcely took the trouble to dissimu- 
late, and even tordv a malicious pleasure in let- 
ting it be seen when she appeared at the Cha- 
teau, to which she was regularly invited. 

The position which she occupied in the heart 
of the Emperor, could not continue to be ig- 
nored at the Palace under these conditions, and 
in fact soon her liaisoti with the Emperor was 



NAl'DLEON III. AND I.ADY STITAKT. 73 

the topic ot" all the gossips, iind with a thoiisaiul 
details, true or false, went the rounds among the 
h((hitucs of the Chateau. 

The Empress who always was well-informed on 
matters of this kind, heard of the Countess El- 
len's intrigue, and was much irritated. She de- 
termined to put a stop to the scandal of which 
her house was the theatre. 

The Empress knew all the mistresses of Na- 
poleon III. At first when she heard of an in- 
trigue of the Emperor she used to pout, become 
nervous and even rude in her manner. But 
she soon seemed to become accustomed to the 
vagaries of her husband, and she tolerated with 
an appearance of indifference the presence of 
the woman who became her rival. She simply 
avenged herself on the Emperor for his infidel- 
ities by upbraidings and anger. 

The same thing would have taken place with- 
out doubt in regard to Lady Stuart, if an event 
had not occurred which made the situation still 
more serious. 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

All of a sudden the Countess Ellen ceased 
her visits to the Tuileries, abruptly left Paris 
and no one could say at first where she had 
gone. 

Bat this sudden flight excited curiosity, and 
many comments. Tlie Empress herself was 
astonished at an absence which nothing seemed 
Id justify. At last some of the more curious 
who luid been iuto the country in search of the 
Countess, declared on their return that Lady 
Stuart, who was enceinte hj the Emperor, 
had taken refuge in a village near Paris, to 
await her confinement. 

This was true. Lady Stuart, dismayed and 
ha[)py at one and the same time, had informed 
her imperial lover one afternoon, that she was 
about to become a mother. 

The Emperor was well aware of the appre- 
hension that the Empress felt on the score of 



NAI'OMCON III. AND LADY STL'ART. 75 

his afiiovrs aiul their probable consequences. 
Tie knew (hat it would not do for his compan- 
ion to aver that her child owed its existence to 
him, and to publish the fact to the world. He 
knew that in her exultation she might be ca- 
pable of even worse imprudences, and foreseeing 
almost with a feeling of terror, the results of 
such a revt'lation, he insisted on the immediate 
departure of his mistress. 

The scene in which Lady Stuart informed 
Napoleon III. of her approaching maternity 
was not without its simple charm and at the 
same time its emotional features. 

When the astonished Emperor remained for 
some minutes without making any reply to the 
young Lady, she became uneasy. 

"Ah, sire," said she, "love me well to-day, 
for to-morrow w'ithout doubt, we shall be as 
much strangers to one another as if we had 
never met." 

Napoleon III. looked at her steadily; 

"Why do you talk thus?" he asked. 

" Because, in confessing to you that I am 
about to be a mother, sire, I feel that the word 



76 NAPOLEON in. AND LADY STUART. 

'■jini ' is written on the last page of our ro- 
mance." 

" You are mistaken. I love yon sufficiently, 
madam, to make it impossible for me to forget 
you, or give 3'ou up, even should some s;id ac- 
cident happen to put a stop to our rehitions. 
You are about to become a mother and I do 
not conceal from you that I should have pre- 
ferred that this were not to be. But it is not 
so much this statement that worries me. I 
think of the child that is about to come into 
the world, who is mine as much as yours, and 
whom I shall not be able to love." 

Lad}^ Stuart ti'emblcd. 

'•' What, sire, you will not love my (^hild, our 
child?" she anxiously asked. 

" Alas, madam, there are difficult situations 
in life. Understand me. Do not private citi- 
zens, the hourgcois, gentlemen, frequently af- 
fect to ignore in obedience to the laws and so- 
cial usages, 'a son or a daughter, the offs])ring 
of a loved mistress? These laws and these 
usages, which are binding on citizens, are much 
more binding on kings and public men. I am 



NAPOLKON III. AND LADY STUART. 77 

sad biH'aiisc I- sliall not be able to love j'our 
cliild as I .should have liked to love him, because 
I tiiink of all those who are in the same situa- 
tion and Mho less fortunate- for yoxn child 
will be fortunate — sorrowfully wander about 
the world. Love has its cruelties and a pater- 
nity that cannot be acknowledged as one among 
them." 

The Emperor was born with kindly and 
paternal instincts. He fondly loved his legiti- 
mate son, the Prince Imperial : and would 
have liked to love as dearly and openly, per- 
haps, the illegitimate child with whose destiny 
lie was charged. 

J^ad}^ Stuart was touched by the kindness of 
his words, and the tenderly melancholy philo- 
soph}', he evinced, and she made no objection, 
when he pointed out to her that she must leave 
Paris at once. 

After having made arrangements for a pro- 
longed absence, she went to Versailles under a 
feiirned name and there awaited the birth of 
her child. 

The Emperor was sincerely vexed when he 



78 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

saw that his intimate friends and the Empress 
had discovered the cause of the absence of his 
mistress, and heard the remarks that were pro- 
voked by the disappearance of the young 
woman. He would very much have liked to 
put a stop to these scandals which it must be 
acknowledged were now no longer scandals, 
but he could not without compromising his dig- 
nity, notice the reports in circulation among 
the courtiers, by denying the truth of them or 
to censure their impropriety. Would they 
have paid any attention to his intervention or 
even obeyed him? One ma}- well doubt the 
efficacy of this intervention, wherj it is remem- 
bered that the Empress was always omnipotent 
at the Tuileries, and that the frequenters of the 
Chuteau took their tone from her, and that the 
Court circle, both men and women, would have 
made light of the displeasure of Napoleon III., 
in order the better to please her whose despotic 
authority they acknowledged. 

However, one day at one of the Empress' 
Mondays, the Emperor lost patience and gave 
the scaudal-jnongers a lecture. 



NAl'OLKON nr. AND I.ADV STUAKT. 79 

As he piisscrl near a grou[) of ladies wlio 
were joking \\ itli a number of young men, lie 
heard the name of Lady Stuart mentioned, and 
that these whisperings seemed to involve some 
mystery connected with this name. 

He was only too well aware of the nature of 
this conversation and walked straight up to the 
speakers. 

As he approached, all were silent, and bowed 
uneasily in the hope that he would proceed : 
but the Emperor stopped and slowly stroking 
his mustache, he uttered these w'ords ; 

" I invite you ladies, and you also gentlemen, 
to be present at the next sermon to be preached 
in the chapel of the Chateau : the text will be 
on evil speaking and our duty to our neigh- 
bor." 

And he added as he turned his back on them: 

'• I may count, may I not, on your presence? '' 

The amazed courtiers dispersed. The inci- 
dent made some noise at Court, and from this 
time forth, in spite of their submission to the 
Empress, the courtiers were more prudent in 
their gossip. 



80 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

But the scandal which the authority of t lie 
Emperor had put a stop to for a time, broke out 
without restriction at Court, when it was known 
that Lady Stuart had given birth to a son. 

The young lady thought that she had 
arranged everything around her so that her 
secret should not be revealed, and even that 
her accouchement should not be known. But 
she had acted without taking into considera- 
tion the thousand traitresses who menace even 
tlie humblest and who watched her all tlie more 
closely because she was powerful and envied. 

As soon as i)0ssible after its birth, the infant 
was entrusted to a woman, carefully selected : 
of good-natured appearance, a sort of cityfied 
peasant, who lived at a small place near Ram- 
bouillet, and wdio carried off her nursling even 
before the mother had recovered from the shock 
of her illness. 

After her son was taken away Lady Stuart 
was very sad. This tardy and somewhat irreg- 
ular advent of a child, too forcibly reminded 
her of the years when as a married woman she 
had prayed for a maternity which had ever 



NAPOLEON 111. AND LADV STUAKT. 81 

been denied to her, for her not to feel deeply 
the cruel separation from the little creature she 
had brought into the world. It would have 
been so sweet for her to have been able to keep 
liira with her to talk to him and receive his in- 
nocent caresses, and in the bitterness of her 
sorrow she began to hate the vanities which 
engrossed her life and everything which she 
had desired, and which she would have gladly 
exclianged for one hour of real independence. 

But she knew that this independence was a 
dream whicli could not be realized in the exist- 
ence which she had accepted : and as the Em- 
peror loved her and was impatiently awaiting 
her, she resigned herself to the inevitable and 
resolved to leave Versailles as soon as her 
health should be re-established. 

As soon as she was able to go out her first 
thought was not for her lover, but for her son 
alone. 

She went to La Verriere, where they had 
taken her child, and spent the whole day with 
him, happy in looking at him, kissing him, giv- 
ing liersclf up to the charming foolishness of 



S-2 NAPOLEON in. AND LADY STUAKT. 

mothers — which is also sad — who when de- 
prived of their children, seem to wish to de- 
vour them when they are permitted to visit 
them. 

This was in the month of August, 1868. 
The house where the little bo}' had been placed 
stood in the middle of a tolerably large garden, 
and Lady Stuart, delighted at playing the part 
of mamma, had withdrawal under the shade of 
some trees with her son. 

All of a sudden, as she was tossing him on 
her knees, and trying to coax a laugh to his 
lips, that first laugh so dear to all mothers, she 
remarked that her son had a scar behind his 
rio-ht ear. She was alarmed until she discov- 
ered after a careful examination, that what she 
had taken for a wound was only a birth-mark. 
In fact, the child had on the edge of his ear a 
red pimple, which stood out in relief on his 
white skin, like a large pea. 

Reassured, she pressed her lips to the 
" beauty spot," and having returned the baby 
to his nurse, went away. 

Some time after her visit to her son, she re- 



NAl'OLKUN 111. AND LADV STUAUT. 8:i 

turned to society aiul this return was a mem- 
orable one. 

As the Court was out of town for the sum- 
mer months, she did not make her ai)pearance 
there. This was by advice of the Emperor, 
who thought it better to postpone her advent 
among his intimate friends for tlie present ; 
but he resumed his interrupted intimacy with 
her, and she visited him more tlian once, un- 
known to those who believed that her mater- 
nity would cause a rupture between her and 
the Emperor. 

However, Lad}- Stuart was not unaware of 
the remarks of which she had been the object 
during her long absence, the slanders and cal- 
umnies which had been levelled against her by 
the frequenters of the Chateau, and she was in 
a hurry, in a spirit of bravado and reprisal, to 
show herself to those men — who had so pit- 
ilessly persecuted her with their sarcasms, — 
more beautiful perhaps, more powerful and 
more envied than before the event which had 
caused her exile from Paris. 



84 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 



CHAPTER IX. 

It was again a fete given at the Tuileries, in. 
the winter of 1868, which served Lady Stuart 
for a pretext to return to Court. 

The Emperor who feared a scandal tried to 
dissuade her from taking this foolish step, and 
advised her to make her return to the Tuileries 
in a less ostentatious manner, but she refused 
to listen to him, and revolted against the ostra- 
cism under which she was suffering, and with 
a caress, she obtained the consent of the sov- 
ereign. 

The Emperor's fears notwithstanding were 
not unfounded, and Lady Stuart with all her 
audacity recoiled on this occasion before the 
anger and the superlatively contemptuous atti- 
tude of the Empress. 

When the Countess Ellen entered the salons 
leaning on the arm of Comte d"A., one of the 
Chambeilains speciall}- deputed by Napoleon 



NAPOLEON 111. AND LADY STUART. 85 

III. to escort the young lady, there was a man- 
ifestation which left no doubt as to the feelings 
and impressions which her presence inspired. 

There arose around her a low murmur, and 
while some looked at her with anxious curios- 
ity, and with a sort of stupefaction, others pre- 
tended not to see her, not willing to compro- 
mise themselves with the Empress by saluting 
her, or to displease tlie Emperor, by being too 
ostentatiously sparing in their homage. 

Lady Stuart, without ajipearing to remark 
this defection and this hypocrisy, had b}' this 
time reached the salo7i where the Empress was 
and advancing towards her she prepared to give 
the customary curtsy. Then there was a 
dramatic scene, and all around anxiously 
awaited the result. 

The Empress when she saw Lady Stuart, 
sprang up from her seat as though impelled by 
a spring, drew herself up to her full height and 
looked at her rival, her face pale, haughty and 
severe and her hands trembling. 

Her attendants were silent and seemed panic- 
stricken. 



86 NAPOLEON 111. AND LADY STUART. 

Without being disconcerted by the reception 
of the sovereign Lady Stuart advanced a little 
nearer, and as nothing unusual took place she 
bowed and smiled. 

But the Empress remained motionless ac- 
knowledging neither her salute nor her smile ; 
and when the Countess Ellen rose, she saw her 
in the same posture, hostile, angry and re- 
proachful. 

Then she understood that it was impossible 
for her to appear thenceforth at the Tuileries» 
and that she must leave the Palace where she 
had formerly triumphed. 

Erect in her turn, wdth a frowning counte- 
nance, and flashing eyes, she met the attitude 
of the Empress with one equally defiant. 

A moment — at most a few seconds — the two 
women stood thus, threateningly facing one 
another, asking themselves perhaps, whether if 
forgetful of their rank and the place where 
they were, they should not like common women, 
fly at each other, like animals meeting with the 
desire of gratifying the instinct of revenge. 

In truth it is impossible to say how this scene 



NAl'OLEOX III. AND LADY STUART. 87 

would liuve ended, if the Emperor, who liad not 
h)st a single detail, had not come to the rescue. 
He sent Comte d'A. to Lady Stuart, and the 
Chamberlain again offering his arm to the in- 
sulted favorite, drew her away, veiling his au- 
tlmritative interference by a flattering remark. 

Countess Ellen who did not easily lose her 
self-possession when she saw that a quarrel with 
the Empress would irretrievably ruin her, as 
far as her intimacy with her lover was con- 
cerned, followed M. d'A. apparently without 
reluctance. 

But as she was unwilling to acknowledge her 
defeat, she said to him, laying a stress upon the 
words : 

" Is it for the purpose of taking me to my 
carriage, sir, that you show me so much polite- 
ness .'' 

M. d'A., who felt a little embarrassed at the 
duty which had been imposed on him that 
night, replied : 

" I have received no order on the subject, 
madam. I am simply instructed by the Em- 
peior, to beg of you to avoid the salon of the 



88 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

Empress and I dave respectfully to counsel you 
to abide by this advice." 

He then left the young lady. 

Prince Napoleon, who had observed all the 
phases of tlie little drama that had just taken 
place, happened to be at the moment near Lady 
Stuart. 

He approached her and held a long conver- 
sation with her and the news of this conversa- 
tion, which caused a great deal of comment at 
first, when it reached the Empress, had no small 
share in increasing the hatred which the Em- 
press felt for her cousin. 

On this occasion, however, the Empress was 
wrong to be angry Avith him. This evening 
the Prince only stopped to compliment the 
Countess Ellen on her beauty, and as he was a 
charming and gallant man he succeeded in in- 
teresting her. 

Nevertheless the young lady affected to con- 
sider the chat which she had with the Prince 
as a compensation for her reception by tlie sov- 
ereign and retired without having spoken to 
any of the other guests. 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 89 

The reserve of the Emperor who had de- 
signedly kept ah)of from her, daring the short 
time that she was at the Chateau, caused her 
much pain and uneasiness. Although this re- 
serve was perfectly natural under the circum- 
stances, and was easily accounted for, the 
Countess Ellen w'as resolved not to accept it, 
and to know if it did uot menace some danger 
to her or her liaiso7i. 

The day after this memorable evening, she 
wrote to the Emperor soliciting an inter- 
view. 

Napoleon III. came to see her, and as apart 
fiom the affectionate reproaches he addressed 
to her relative to her foolish freak and the 
lamentable consequences which might result 
from it, — he was as prodigal of his caresses as 
before the incident, — she was appeased. Even 
her hatred for the Empress assumed a platonic 
form which was not without spirit. She was 
forbidden the Tuileries henceforth, but in spite 
of the affront which she had received and which 
she was powerless to resent, was she not the 
more powerful, since she was mistress of the 



90 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

heart and affections of the man who was mas- 
ter at the Palace ? 

In the whirl of gaiety at the Tuileries and 
the Embassies during the winter season of 1868, 
in the vortex of their pleasures, the appearance 
and the absence of Lady Stuart were quickly 
forgotten in the Emperor's circle. 

The Empress equally devoted to her pleas- 
ures seemed to liave entirely forgotten the 
existence of her rival, and of the somewhat 
dramatic scene which had caused her withdrawal 
from the Court. As she did not refer to the 
matter, and pretended to have forgotten that a 
woman one evening had dared to defy her in 
her Palace, no one cared to recall this woman 
and her action towards the sovereign. 

However, the forge tfulness and tranquillity 
of the Empress were all on the surface, as, 
owing to her ardent, impressionable nature she 
was unable quickly to forget a face and an ac- 
tion which had so cruelly wounded her feelings, 
and had seemed to endanger for the moment 
not her affection for the Emperor — for she no 
longer loved her husbnnd, — but her position 



NAPOLKON III. AND LADY STUART. 91 

and tlie right ot' being servilely obeyed as a 
queen, — and of seeing the slightest as well as 
the most extravagant of her caprices gratified. 

In truth, the Empress thought of Lady 
Stuart and above all of the child, wliich was 
the fruit of the young lady's relations with the 
Emperor, and its existence rather than the 
strong passion with which the Countess Ellen 
had inspired Na[)oleon III., irritated her. 

At certain times, the image of this child 
presented itself to her as a living irony hos- 
tiled to her own maternity, as a menace liable 
to spring up at some indefinite period, in the 
already uncertain future of her own son, and 
the future of the imperial dynasty, endangered 
at this time by violent political feelings, and 
the ceaseless clamors of a hostile opposition, 
determined on its overthrow. 

The Empress had never really loved her 
husband, neither did she love her son. In 
marrying the Emperor she had but one end in 
view, to rule, to be the absolute mistress of 
bdth the man and the people, to exchange the 
life of an adventuress and a foreign name, for 



92 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

the illustrious one of Bonaparte, — ^for the pos- 
session of a throne, for the proud existence 
and all the worldly happiness of a queen. The 
Empress had the soul and the callous feelings 
of an ambitious courtesan. She was immensely 
vain, with an overmastering greed for pleasure 
and wealth. These were the passions that 
actuated her in the wonderful and cleverly 
conducted plot which ended in her marriage, 
and made her without a peer in tlie art of 
seduction. In endeavoring to protect her son 
against any ambiguous or irregular paternity, 
in pitilessly pursuing with her implacable 
enmity any bastard offspring of the Emperor, 
the same vanity, the same desire for personal 
satisfaction, and not the sincere solicitude and 
the fond love which mothers lavish on their 
children, animated her. She avoided impend- 
ing dangers, by protecting her son from them, 
and if she could have been assured that an 
illegitimate brother of the Prince Imperial 
would not have endangered her plans for the 
future, either politically or in her family rela- 
tions, she would not have hesitated for the sake 



NAl'ULKON III. AND LADY STDART. 93 

of lier uwu peace of mind to banish from her 
life the anxieties with which she was beset in 
the present uncertainty. 



CHAPTER X. 

The Empress knew well how to conceal the 
anxiety which the birth of the son of Lady 
Stuart caused her, during the month succeed- 
ing the incident which signalized the last ap- 
pearance of the young lady at the Tuileries. 
But soon this anxiety under the influence of 
the thought which troubled her, became evident 
and it was almost in spite of herself that she 
allowed it to be surmised. 

One afternoon when she was chatting with 
some of her intimate friends, among whom was 
the Princess Pauline de Metternich, she sud- 
denly broke ofif the conversation and made ^lie 
startling remark : — 

"Nobody here talks about that English- 
woman any more, who endeavored to revolu- 



94 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

tionize the Tuileries — that Lady Stuart. Which 
of you ladies can tell me what has become of 
this woman ? " 

Tliere was a silence — a long silence. 

But as the Empress manifested impatience 
for an answer to her question, one of the ladies 
present, Mme. P. mustered up courage to 
reply. 

" The Empress is really too good to remem- 
ber the adventuress ; Lady Stuart, I am told, 
is living a very retired life, no doubt from re- 
gret at having displeased your Majesty." 

The Empress not satisfied with this vague 
explanation, rejoined : — 

" She has a child, a son, whose father is un- 
known, hasn't she, for whom she desires to claim 
the Emperor as father ? 1 am more interested 
in the child than in her. What has she done 
with it ? where is it ? " 

This time it was the Comtesse de M. who re- 
plied : — 

" It appears she has got rid of it. The child 
is at nurse, at a distance from Paris, and the 
claims which Lady Stuart endeavors to make on 



NAl'OLKON III. AND [.ADV STUART. *J5 

his behalf are loo ridicultjus even to be listened 
to/' 

The sovereign turned to Mnie. de jM. 

" I don't agree with you," she said, and her 
usually harsh voice became even harsher ; 
"claims of this kind, liowever foolish, always 
find more fools than enough to listen to them 
and believe in them." 

The Princess de Metternich, who, up to this 
point, had not taken any part in the conver- 
sation, advanced : — 

"In my country," she declared, "such stories 
as these would not trouble tlie lieart or the 
mind of those at whom they are aimed, we should 
simply and without awy fuss suppress the cause 
of the scandal and that would end all." 

This woman — the Princess de Metternich — 
this red-haired Austrian, coolly counselled the 
commission of a crime, as coolly indeed as she 
Would have advised an excursion to the country. 
Although the frivolous and unscrupulous wo- 
men who were listening to her had not many 
scruples, they understood her suggestion, and 
witli instinctive feminine pity, they shuddered, 



96 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

awaiting the reply of the Empress in painful 
suspense. 

The sovereign did not shudder at the abomin- 
able words of Mme. de Metternich. 

A cold smile curled her lips, and she mur- 
mured the same speech that she had made wlien 
it was claimed that Marie Belleng6 owed her 
maternity to the Emperor : — 

" I will never allow a bastard true or false to 
be brought up in view of the Prince Imperial. 
You may be sure that I shall use every means 
in nn^ power to save my son annoyance." 

In expressing herself thus the Empress evi- 
dently had just formulated a design against the 
innocent little child of whom they were speak- 
ing, and as they knew her to be capable of still 
worse resolutions when her obstinate brain 
entertained a fixed idea, the ladies surrounding 
her were alarmed at the harshness of her words. 

The same apprehension seized them all : the 
Empress had determined that the son of Lady 
Stuart should disappear. What would be the 
actual consequences and nature of this condem- 
nation ? 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 97 

If this cunversatioii had been cuiitinued, the 
Empress might perliaps have been induced to 
satisf}' the anxious curiosity of her intimate 
friends. But she dropped the subject and as- 
suming a merry air with as much ease as she 
had been grave, she apparently dismissed the 
subject from her thoughts. 

A startling event happened a few weeks after 
the utterance of these threats, which increased 
the irritation of the Empress. 

After the scene which took place at the 
Tuileries between her and Lady Stuart, the 
sovereign was Avilling to believe and had even 
imagined that the Emperor from a feeling of 
personal prudence, as well as out of considera- 
tion for the dignity of his household, would 
have dropped his relations with his mis- 
tress. 

As slie had no information on this point, she 
made enquiries, having instructed one of her 
intimate friends to keep a watch on the 
Emperor, and it was not long before she learned 
that not only had Napoleon III. not broken off' 
his intimacy with tlie Countess Ellen, but that 
7 



98 KAl'OLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

]io saw her oftcuer and more unrestrainedly, 
than when she appeared at Court. 

She flew into a violent passion then and i-e- 
alizing that the tenacity of the Emperor's pas- 
sion was due to the existence of the child on 
whom he doted — she decided to bring about a 
separatiou between Lady Stuart and her lover, 
an irretrievable separation from one who ap- 
peared to retain his affections by her caresses 
more than all the women wdio had preceded her. 

As the reproaches with which she liad al- 
ready loaded the Emperor on account of his 
liaison, had not the slightest effect, slie never 
thought of renewing them, and realized that if 
she wished to succeed in her undertakiiig, she 
must henceforth resort to more practical 
measures. 

These measures presented themselves. In 
order to bring about a rupture between Na- 
poleon III. and Lady Stuart, it became neces- 
sary not to overwhelm the sovereign with more 
or less efficacious reproaches and to the point, 
but to strike without pity at the woman who in- 
fatuated him. 



NAI'OLEON III. AND LADV STLART. 99 

This woman in herself, on account of her na- 
tionality, and her social rank, was beyond all 
attack or direct quarrel, and was beyond the 
reach of an arbitrary attack which would not 
be sanctioned by the Emperor's authority. 

The perfidious and insinuating words of 
Alme. de Metternich, rang in the ears of the 
Empress, and the more she recalled them, the 
more was she persuaded that they indicated 
the only way of carrying out her design. 

Once the Englishwoman's child was out of 
the way or at least had disappeared, a cri-iis 
would arise between the two lovers which 
would put an end to their tranquil affection 
and terminate the intimacy whicli united them. 
The same effort and the same bold stroke 
would restore to the Emperor his moral inde- 
pendence and deliver the Prince Imperial from 
a future and probable evil. 

The Empress carefull}' matured her plans 
and when her resolution was fixed in her mind, 
she took measures to put it in execution. 

Whilst the sovereign was thus plotting 
against her. Lady Stuart was ignorant of the 



100 NAPOLEON Iir. AND LADY STUART. 

dangers which threatened her, and was happy 
ill the enjoyment of the love which the Emperor 
continued to hivish on her and above all was. 
she proud of the secret influence which on ac- 
count of this love she exercised at the Tuil- 
eries. 

Her tranquillity was destined to be tragically 
interrupted. The young woman went nearly 
every month to La Verriere to see her son. It 
was then the beginning of the year 1869 and 
the child was about six months old with all the 
mischievous tricks and charming grace of a kit- 
ten, which rejoiced and amused his mother. 

One afternoon about the end of January, 
when Lady Stuart reached the house of the 
good people who had charge of her child, she 
was surprised to find the house closed and al- 
most abandoned. 

An instinctive fear of some misfortune seized 
her, in presence of this solitude : but she was 
soon reassured by the brightness of the winter 
sun, and told herself that it was easy to explain 
the absence of the child's guardians, that they 
had doubtless taken advantage of the fine 



NAl'OLKON lir. AND LADY STUART. 101 

weather to take a walk, and that they would 
soon return. 

In order that the time might not seem too 
long while she was waiting for them, she went 
into the village and entered the woods in the 
vicinity. When she returned the house was no 
longer empty, and she went in. 

When they saw Lady Stuart, the man and 
his wife, who were accustomed to receive her 
with respect, rose from their seats and ex- 
changed looks of astonishment. 

The Countess Ellen without noticing this re- 
ception, saluted them politely, and as her cus- 
tom was, followed her salutation by the ques- 
tion ; — 

"Well nurse, and how is Jack? Bring him 
to me quick." 

These words were always followed by the 
appearance of the child and the young lady 
would carry him off and nearly devour him 
with her caresses. 

But on this occasion when they heard these 
words the child's guardians were thunderstruck 
and overwhelmed with astonishment. 



102 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

While they remained motionless and silent. 
Lady Stuart wlio had placed her cloak on a 
chair, and was arranging some little presents 
whicli she had brought, re-entered 1he room. 
Their embarrassment and astonishment now 
struck her suddenly. With a terrible presenti- 
ment, she bounded towards them. 

'•Didn't you hear me? go and fetch me my 
son.'' 

Tlie woman at last decided to speak. 

"We heard you quite well, madam. . . ." 

The Countess turned pale : " Well ! " she 
said. 

Instead of replying, the child's guardians 
moved uneasil3^ 

"Well," said the young lady, " do as I tell 
you." 

They murmured : " It happens that. . ." 

Then Lady Stuart cried out: 

" Wiiat is going on here . . . my son Jack, 
what have you done with him ... I want to 
see liim ... I will . . ." 

Tlie words died away on her lips and as they 
made no reply to her imperious command, or to 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 103 

licr anxious questions, slie knew tliat something 
terrible had liappeiied in this house since her 
last visit, and which was about to be revealed 
tn her. 

** Jack, Jack," she cried, "my child — my 
poor little one . . ." 

Then turning to the affrighted guardians of 
her child, and expressing her fear in one sen- 
tence, she said : 

" You miserable, miserable creatures, speak, 
speak then. What have you done with my 
chihn" 

Tlie woman in presence of this grief broke 
down and sobbed bitterlj'. 

The man who was calmer but livid, ap- 
proached Lady Stuart and said to her : — 

'■'• We do not understand your visit to-day, 
madam, or your surprise and grief. Some fif- 
teen days ago, a lady came here on your behalf, 
and carried off your child. This separation 
caused us much grief, for we loved the little 
one as if it had been our own. To console us 
for this sudden separation, the lady on your 
behalf, gave us a large sum of money. At 



104 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUAKT. 

first, we wished to refuse this gift, for it could 
not assauge our grief, but we are not rich and 
we ended by accepting it. We asked one an- 
other why, all of a sudden, without any motive, 
you took the child from us and why you sent a 
person whom we had never seen to fetch the 
child away, instead of coming here yourself. 
But we did not think it was our business to 
question your messenger, since she gave us no 
explanation of your resolution : and since you 
are a beautiful woman, madam, and no doubt 
very much occupied with your duties to -so- 
ciety, we did not tliink it very strange that not 
having the time to come yourself, you should 
send another to do what you could not attend 
to yourself. This lady took the child away. 
Since it was taken away, we have had no news 
of it and can give you no news regarding it." 

The man expressed himself simply and 
clearly, and Lad}^ Stuart felt that he was tell- 
ing truth I 

She wailed : " Mon Dieu, Mon Dien, they 
have stolen my child I " 

Then addressing the guardians, she said : 



NAPOLKON III. AND LADY STUART. 105 

" You have been deceived — they have lied to 
you. I never sent a lady to you to take away 
my little Jack." 

As the woman was still weeping, the husband 
again spoke : 

'' The trick was well played in that case. 
But it will be easy for you, madam, to find out 
who has stolen your child. Those who have 
contrived this trick must be known to you and 
you must look among them for your child." 

This argument was logical. Lady Stuart 
felt the strength of it, and a sort of light 
dawned upon her paralyzed perceptions. 

Overwhelmed with grief but having some- 
what recovered her sang-froid, she murmured :— 

" Yes, certain people hate me and they are 
the ones who have committed this crime." 

And she added with a discouraged gesture, 
as if replying to an inward suggestion : 

"But shall I ever be able to reach them, 
shall I ever know what they have done wath 
my poor little child?" 

" Madam," said the man, " unhappily we are 
not in a position to be of service to you under 



106 NAPOLEON in. AND LADY STUART. 

the circumstances. I have told you all that we 
know of this affair. But do not despair. You 
know tlie names of those who wish you evil. 
Well, since you are rich, remember that with 
money you can have, and do, all tliat you wish : 
you will not be long before you recover your 
child from those who have stolen it." 

Lady Stuart rose to leave. It was useless for 
her to remain any longer with these good people, 
and she was drawn to Paris by every fibre of her 
being, to him in whom she placed all her hope, 
to whom she would cry in her distress — the 
Emperor. 



CHAPTER XI. 

The day after her sad discovery, she went to 
tlie Tuileries at the risk of meeting the Em- 
press, and imperiously demanded an interview 
with Napoleon Til. 

The oOvereign received her immediately, but 
when litiiSaw her he made a gesture of despair 



NAI'OLKON 111. AND LADY STL-AUT. 107 

'•You here I "' he softly chided, "you here, 
\vh;il iuipnidence, what folly ! "' 

Lady Stuart, wan and grief-stricken, advanced 
towards him. 

" Yes. I am here at tlie Tuileries. Do you 
not understand, sire, that I must have a power- 
ful motive to risk this imprudence — this folly ? " 

The young woman's voice trembled, and was 
almost inaudible. The Emperor looked at his 
mistress, and his dawning smile disappeared. 
The dramatic attitude of the Countess Ellen 
alarmed him. 

" Moil Dieu, what is the matter — ? What 
misfortune has happened to you ? '' 

" An awful misfortune, sire, my child has 
been stolen." 

Tiie sovereign trembled. 

'' Your child has been stolen ?" 

"Yes, it happened fifteen days ago, and I 
only learned it yesterday, when I ^\ ent to La 
Verri^re." 

The young lady then gave her lover a full 
account of the abduction. 

The Emperor turned pale as he 1 tened to 



108 NAPOLEON III, AND LADY STUART. 

her. He tugged at his moustache, and fever- 
ishly paced his cabinet. 

Then he stopped and stammered : 

"Your child has been stolen — who could 
have committed this theft, and for what end ? 
Do you suspect anybody who would be capable 
of taking revenge in such a way? " 

Lady Stuart with an effort let fall one word 
— " Yes." 

Napoleon III. was impatient and nervous. 

" Speak, madam — the name of this person."" 

" Your Majesty insists on the name ? " 

" I must have it — the guilty person whoever 
it be, shall not go unpunished." 

" The guilty person will not be punished, 
sire : if your Majesty sees that my son is re- 
stored to me I shall be satisfied." 

" Undeceive yourself, madam — the guilt}' 
person shall be chastised. Again I say, speak." 

" The person who has caused my son to be 
carried off and is hiding him, sire, is the 
Empress." 

At these words the sovereign became in- 
tensely pale. The accusation made against his 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 109 

wife was sudden and unexpected. He was 
shocked, and quickly going up to the young 
woman, he took her by the arm : 

" Silence, madam, silence," he said in a very 
low voice, "and never repeat what you have 
said to me." 

Lady Stuart disengaged herself, and gather- 
ing courage from the emotion of the Emperor, 
she replied : 

" Pardon my language, sire, but mj' child 
has been taken from me. I want my child ; I 
want to see him again dead or alive: and until 
I see him, I will not cease to proclaim to you 
the name of her whom I consider to be the in- 
terested instigator of the misfortune which has 
befallen me. You impose silence upon me and 
you are right, for you can do nothing in regard 
to this revelation, for your justice is powerless 
against the rank of the guilty person. You do 
not doubt my assertions, you know as well as I 
the hand which has struck this blow. I have 
been banished from the Tuileries, but she de- 
sires more ; she desires our separation, and to 
attain this end she lias plotted to torture my 



110 NAPOLEON 111. AND LADY STUART. 

mother's heart : she thought that my grief 
would henceforth interpose between you and 
nie, and she was right. From to-day, I am 
only a wee^jing mother resolved by any sacri- 
fices to regain possession of her missir.g child." 

The Emperor was sincerely moved. 

" The misfortune which has happened to you 
is abominable, frightful," he said, " and you 
may rely upon my support, to obtain ample 
satisfaction. Your child shall be found and 
returned to you. Calm yourself then, I pray 
you, ;ind for my sake, who have loved you and 
still love you do not bring the name (>f the 
Empress into this horrible affair. I believe 
and am certain tliat you are wrong, besides be- 
ing prompted by your grief to blame the 
Enjpress in this case. From a very natural 
and perfectly legitimate feeling she banished 
you from C^ourt : she was desirous perhaps of 
finding some excuse to bring about a rupture 
between us. But she is a good woman and a 
mother, and it is inadmissible to impute designs 
to her of which she would be incapable, and to 
charge her with a crime. The Empress is a 



NAI'OLKOX III. AM) i.ADV STUART. Ill 

mollicr. 1 repeat, iiiid a mother, iiuitlam, does 
not strike a woman, even tliougli she detests 
her, tlirougli her mother's heart." 
Lady Stiuirt shook her liead sadly. 
*'A Woman who hates, sire, is capable of at- 
tempting anything against the object of her 
hate. The Empress is a woman in the expres- 
sion of her feelings, in the same manner as the 
rest of her sex." 

'' Do not say that, madam, do not say that," 
mnrmured the Emperor. 

And lie resumed his pacing up and down in 
his cal)iuct. 

The Countess Ellen was well aware tliat the 
interview she had solicited that morning, ct.uld 
only result in a vague promise of help, an 
affectionate exhortation and the offer of an un- 
certain hope. 

She thanked Napoleon III. for his sympathy, 
and took her leave. 

As she was leaving the cabinet, she fixed her 
eyes on the Emperor, and this look was full of 
pity. She felt tliat this man. that this rnler, 
was overwhelmed bv the terrible anguish which 



112 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

she had made him suffer, and she pitied him 
because he was not able in the kindness of his 
nature, to give her any further consolation 
than the assurance of a secret support; and 
was unable, situated as he was, to punish the 
author of the crime whom she had denounced 
to him. 

She resolved by her own energy to supple- 
ment the fatal inaction and the feeble inter- 
vention of the Emperor : and as soon as she 
returned home, she coolly discussed the means 
which she would employ to solve the cruel 
enigma which confronted her. 

Having come to France with the reputation 
of an adventuress of high rank, without having 
desired it. Lady Stuart found that she had 
missed the path that destiny seemed to have 
traced out for her. Her life had suddenly been 
diverted in another direction b}- an unexjDected 
maternity, and was entirel}^ merged in the feel- 
ings awakened bv this maternitv. 

This effacement of self, this forgetfulness of 
all that which formerly placed her in the front 
rank of the elegant habituces of the Court, this 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. llo 

sacrifice of her ambition, fortune and pride, 
Iiad become more absolute since she had ex- 
perienced sorrow, since her child had been 
stolen from her, whose inncjcent caresses she 
had rapturously enjoyed. 

Then a profound reaction took place in her. 
With a spontaneous renouncement of her for- 
mer pleasures, and even her smallest dissipa- 
tions, she swore to consecrate herself to the re- 
covery of her son, and to vengeance for the 
grief that had been caused her — a vengeance 
which she wished to be a signal one, and this 
already in thought seemed to assuage her grief. 

Having heard since the abduction and since 
lier interview with the Emperor, from one of 
the ladies who frequented the Tuileries and 
whom she had met, of the words spoken by 
Mme. de Metternich and the declarations of the 
Empress, she was convinced that the sovereign 
had guided the criminal hand which had 
wounded her: and although between the wife 
of Napoleon III. and herself, there was a differ- 
ence as much from a social as from a purely 
feminine point of view, she vowed to herself to 
8 



114 NAPOLEON TIL AND LADY STUART. 

punish her, to return her blow for blow, if her 
tears were not dried by some fortunate chance. 

She did not wish, however, to hasten the. re- 
prisals, to declare her enmity, prematurely and 
as she was more eager to regain possession of 
of her child than to gratify her feelings of re- 
venge, it was to the recovery of the lost child 
that she directed all her thoughts. 

Having received from the Emperor only a 
lukewarm promise, and phrases of almost com- 
monplace condolence, she felt that if she 
wished to succeed in her search, slie must act 
with firmness, whilst carefully avoiding any im- 
prudent action which might arouse the distrust 
of those who were without doubt watching her. 

In an interview with the English ambassador 
she told him of the abominable conspiracy 
against her safety, and she ashed his support in 
the task which she had set herself. 

The diplomatist seemed to take a judicious 
view of her situation. 

" It would appear certain," said he to her, 
" when I recall your reception at the Tuileries, 
and the rivalry which was the result of it, and 



NAPOLKON III. AND LADY STUART. 115 

mIicii 1 reniember cerhiin remarks that were 
made regarding you in the presence of tlie Em- 
press, that she, in order to put an end to tlie 
liaison which caused lier uneasiness, has been 
the instigator of the drama at La Verrifere. 
You must then be extremely circumspect not 
onl}' iu the manifestation of your sorrow, but 
even more so in the steps you take to ascertain 
the truth, and to recover your son. I am sure 
that the child is threatened with no danger in 
the criminal sense of the word. He has been 
stolen not to kill him as 3'ou say Mme. de Met- 
ternich advised, but simply and less dramati- 
cally to put him out of the reach of the 
possible tenderness of the Emperor. He 
is safe, somewhere among good people who 
are caring for him without troubling them- 
selves about his history. But to obtain 
the result that 3'ou desire, keep in the back- 
ground; don't let the newspapers get hold of 
the story. Public curiosity has nothing to do 
with this, and if you lose your calmness all hope 
of success would be gone. The Emperor who 
can secretly aid you, would be obliged to drop 



116 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

yiju and take no notice of your grief: reasons 
of State would intervene between him and you, 
and you must recognize the fact tliat he could 
not compromise himself to satisfy you." 

The logic of the Ambassador reduced Lady 
Stuart to despair. 

" I want my child ... I want him," she 
cried, "even if I must die for wanting him . . . 
I beg of you to point out to me some more ef- 
ficacious way than words of advice to recover 
him." 

The diplomatist replied without emotion : 

"• This advice is necessary, and it was impera- 
tive to give it. As to the means to be emploj^ed 
— listen to me. I will introduce 3-ou to a secret 
agent of the Embassy, who is perfectly familiar 
with Parisian ways, who is well acquainted 
with the officials at the Prefecture of Police, 
and to whom I am indebted for signal services. 
His name is Fr^pont. You will let him know 
all the facts in the case, and will leave him to 
act." 

The young woniun felt somewhat consoled. 

*' And when shall I see the agent? " 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUAKT. 117 

"To-morrow. He will call on you; but he 
will not come as being sent by me. My name 
must not be mixed up at all with this in- 
trigue. Of course you understand how un- 
pleasant it would be for me at the Tuileries, if 
I did not appear to be absolutely ignorant of 
it." 



CHAPTER XII. 

Lady Stuart, when she left the English Em- 
bassy, after having thanked her countryman, 
felt a moral assurance which gave her confi- 
dence in the future, and she feverishly looked 
forward to the next day. 

In the afternoon, the agent referred to by the 
diplomatist was announced. He was a man of 
short stature, rather stout, with somewhat the 
appearance of a tradesman in moderate circum- 
stances, or a well-to-do clerk. His round, rosy 
fare, his snub nose and scanty moustache in no 
way gave any clue to the nature of his occu- 



118 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

pation. A close observer, however, would have 
(jLiickly remarked tliat his gimlet like, narrow, 
shifty, greenish, ferret's eyes were nut those of 
a candid individual. 

Having listened to the young lady AAithout 
interrupting her, he still remained silent for 
some minutes, after she had done speaking, lost 
in reflection, and turning his hat in his fat, plump 
hands, which were short and very white and 
adorned with valuable rings. 

At length, he raised his head and looking at 
the Countess Ellen, he slowly, and as if weigh- 
ing each word before pronouncing it, expressed 
himself thus : — 

" There are some essential clues lacking in 
this story, madam, and it will not be eas}" for us 
to see our way clearly. The guardians of the 
child know but one thing : a lady one day 
came from you, to take away from them the 
child that you had entrusted to them. They 
did not ask this lady any questions — did they 
even get a good look at her ? — and gave her the 
child. There are not sufficient details to start 
an enquiry. However, do not let us despair. I 



NAl'OLEON III. AND LADY STUAllT. 119 

will go to these good people and will make them 
talk. Perhiips they will tell me more than 
they did you. As for the lady in question, — 
ah, I would give something to have a lock of 
her hair — it wouldn't be much but it would be 
better than nothing. Well, we will have that 
lock and we will make use of it. Considering 
the high rank of her whom you accuse, the 
woman who was actively employed in this affair 
must be of some social standing, one who has 
some friends at the Prefecture of Police. 

Follow my reasoning carefully, madam. The 
wonuin who has caused you all this trouble, in 
order to attain her end, has not had recourse to 
one of her intimate friends, who would have 
been frightened at the responsibility that such a 
mission would impose upon her, but to a woman 
Avho is accustomed to fear noticing, to what we 
call a professional. And this woman can only 
be one who has relations with the police — 
above all the political police. She will have 
acted without even knowing for whom she was 
acting, and under the orders simply of a chief, 
or a very high official, certainlj-. This official 



120 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

will have received instructions from we know 
whom, and will have had them carried out. 
You understand we should lose our time in trj-- 
ing to discover this gentleman. I must direct 
all my efforts then, to finding his accomplice. I 
have the list as well as the description of the 
women employed by the police of Paris. By 
proceeding first with a social classification, and 
then by a process of elimination, I am pretty 
sure to put my finger and get my eye on the 
woman for whom we are looking. If I unearth 
her, then I shall have to make her talk, and 
that without doubt will not be a very easy 
thing. But I have patience and with patience 
one can succeed in anything. For to-day, it is 
useless to bother our heads any more. Well, 
good day, madam. To-morrow I shall be at La 
Verriere, and I will give you an account of m}' 
proceedings." 

Lady Stuart listened to the agent attentively. 

" Go and act quickly, sir ; if you return my 
dear little bo}', I will make you rich, I swear 
it." 

" Thank you for your promise, madam," re- 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 121 

plied the police officer, as he was leaving the 
room : " although I have some fortune, I am 
not unwilling to have more. But on my word, 
this is such a beautiful case, that I would under- 
take it for the honor alone." 

The next day, as he liad declared, agent 
Fropont alighted at the station of La Verriere, 
and made his way to the house of the former 
guardians of little Jack. 

Tlie man and woman were at home when he 
presented himself at the door. From Lady 
Stuart's statement he was convinced of their in- 
nocence in the abduction of the child; he wisely 
decided not to arouse their distrust. 

When he entered the house, he said, "It is 
you with whom the little boy Jack boarded ? " 

The woman advanced uneasily. 

" Yes sir ; why this question ? " 

Without replying to her interrogation, the 
agent continued : 

" I have a message for you. Do you remem- 
ber a lady who came to your house to take 
away the child and said that she was sent by 
the mother ? " 



122 NAPOLl^ON 111. AND LADY STUAllT. 

" Holy Virgin, do we remember ! " 

" Well, I have some good news for you. 
Jack has been found and this time it is really 
his mother who sends some one to tell you that 
she grieves no more, and that you need not do 
so any more." 

" Holy Virgin ! — ah. Holy Virgin ! — " ex- 
claimed the woman, her face radiant, " you are 
welcome sir. We have done nothing but weep 
since this happened, and you make us truly 
hap]Dy. So the dear little fellow is found." 

" Yes, he is now with his mother, and I as- 
sure you that they won't steal him again. The 
cherub will be taken care of." 

The man then spoke. 

'' The child is found, it is well. But for all 
that is it known why he was stolen ? " 

The detective made a gesture of indifference. 

" Certainly it is known and it is a very simple 
thing and there is nothing dramatic about it at 
all. The lady who came here is a relative of 
Jack's mother. She lias been married and 
went mad after the death of her husband and an 
only child. She has a fixed idea that her child 



NAPOLEON 111. AND LADY STL' ART. 123 

is iilivo. She iiuagined that the son oL" her re- 
lative was her own, and she made up a plot to 
eairv it off. As this is the second or third 
time that this fit has seized her and that slie 
has abducted children ; she has been placed 
under restraint. It is very sad." 

The man who had been listening with his 
mouth open, groaned : 

" Poor lady." 

" Poor lady, as much as you like," said the 
detective, "but dangerous all the same." 

" Holy Virgin ! " said the ex-nurse, " here is 
an affair. We were worrying our brains, sir, to 
find out the reason for this abduction and I 
told the lady that she must be mistaken when 
she declared that the child had been stolen out 
of motives of revenge." 

And turning to her husband she added 
triumphantly : 

" I was right you see." 

The agent interrupted her. 

'' How is it that you did not perceive that 
this person was crazy ? " 

The nurse a Utile piqued, replied : 



124 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

" But my dear sir this woman did not look 
at all mad. When she first came in, we 
thought she was our lady. She was young 
like her and dressed very much like her, it was 
only when she spoke, for she wore a very thick 
veil, that we discovered our mistake. She was 
very polite and there was nothing out-of-the- 
way in what she said." 

" She left you some money ? " 

" Yes, a large sum, which we dared not touch 
since we knew that she had stolen the child. 
M}^ husband wanted to take it to the commis- 
sary of police at Rambouillet. But I dissuaded 
liim from this idea : the}' could have given us 
trouble. We will return it to you since you 
are sent by the lady." 

Frepont declined to receive it. 

" No. Jack's mother wishes you to keep 
this money, as some compensation for the 
trouble that you have had." 

" Our good lady — you will thank her, sir." 

" I will not fail." 

There was a silence and then the woman 
spoke again : 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 125 

" The relative of our lady as slie left, dropped 
a luuidkerehief trimmed with lace in tiie garden, 
sir. When Jack's mother came here the last time 
we were in such trouble that we did not think 
of showing it to her. She would perhaps have 
recognized it as belonging to her relative, and 
that would luive immediately explained every- 
thing, — but one does not think of everything. 
Since you know to whom to return it, would 
you kindly take it away ? It is a costly trifle." 

The agent felt a thrill, which he immediately 
repressed. 

" Give me the handkerchief, my good 
woman," he said carelessl3^ "It shall be re- 
turned to the owner." 

And extending his hand he received a fine 
cambric handkerchief, whicli he placed in one 
of his pockets, without looking at it. 

After some more conversation with the guar- 
dians, he rose and bid them adieu. 

When he was in the train on his wa}^ back to 
Paris, he attentively and with unfeigned delight 
examined the handkerchief which had been en- 
trusted to him. 



126 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

It was a costly square of cambric, trimmed 
as the good woman had said with magnificent 
hice, with two M's. interlaced, embroidered in 
the corner. 

" Come," murmured Fn'pont, " our thief is a 
fine lady, accustomed to elegance. That is an 
established fact, and my task will be easier 
than I thought." 

Then he added between his teeth, smiling 
and stroking the handkerchief : 

" Little handkerchief, if I am not very much 
mistaken, you will be the means of drawing a 
good many things from certain pretty mouths, 
that they would rather not disclose." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The Emperor was very uneasy after the visit 
of Lady Stuart, and the conversation which he 
had had with her. 

The abduction of a child in which he was 
deeply interested complicated the situation in 
which his liaison with the young woman had 



NAl'OLKON 111. AM) LADV STUAKT. 1-7 

pliicetl him —and as he did not doubt — he con- 
fessed it to the Countess Ellen Inter — -that the 
Empress was indeed the instigator of the plot, 
and the author of the traged}- ; he was embar- 
rassed as to the stand he should take in case 
the intimate friends of the Empress should dis- 
cuss the matter in his presence. 

This stand was plaiidy indicated and the Em- 
peror resigned himself to submit to it: he could 
not appear to be mixed up in such a matter, 
and the most absolute reserve was necessary in 
spite of the grief he felt. 

He had, however, a second time sent M. 
Hyrvoix to his grief-stricken mistress, with in- 
structions to consult with her as to the meas- 
ures to be taken by the police, in order to 
arrive at a satisfactory result in the search for 
the child. But when he learnt from his de- 
voted servant that the young woman had not 
awaited his assistance before acting, he con- 
cluded to interfere no further. 

Several days then passed without tlie Em- 
peror and Lady Stuart having the least com- 
munication with eacli other. 



128 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

Napoleon III. loved his mistress, and this 
sudden interruption of their relations sincerely 
grieved him. The time even came when it was 
difficult for him to endure it, and one evening, 
braving every obstacle, in his imprudent and 
affectionate desire to see tlie young lady again, 
as also with the intention of acquainting her 
with certain details relating to the drama at La 
Verrifere, which had come to his knowledge in 
the palace, he went to her house. 

Lady Stuart who was very impatient at the 
unavoidable delays in the inquiry instituted 
by Frepont, was very sad and discouraged 
when the Emperor called upon her, and he 
only half succeeded in restoring a part of her 
hope. 

•' You have anticipated me," he said to her, 
" in employing a detective to conduct the search 
for your son. I should have been glad indeed 
to place the services of one of the agents in my 
})ersonal service at your disposal to assist you. 
But this agent could not have done better than 
yours, and I deplore my inability to be more 
directly of service to you." 



NA1'(»LK(>N 111. AND J..M)V SilAIM. 1 "20 

When tlio ("oiiiitess EUuu ihunkfd him, he 
ifplied : 

•• I am afr;ii«l that tliis stor}'-, some fine morn- 
ing, will make a scandal in the newspapers. It 
has already caused me some uneasiness : the 
consequences of its exposure would be terrible 
lor the 'J'nileries." 

Lady Stuart raised her eyes to the Emperor. 

" You have had troubles on my account, 
sire ? " 

'• Yes. Troubled by the accusations which 
vou recently brought with so much force against 
the Empress, I wished to know if they had any 
foundation, and I tried to interrogate her whom 
you accused." 

" Well." 

" Well, madam, not only did the Empress from 
her replies seem to me to know nothing of the 
real causes of your afHiction, but it brought on 
an explanation between her and me. She bit- 
terly reproached me for my weakness towards 
you, and tlireatened to leave the Tuileries — 
sueh a threat has already had its effect — if I 
ever ventured even to mention your name." 
9 



130 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

" The Empress, sire, in employing against you 
and me the language of a jealous or a clever 
woman, has in no way refuted my accusations, 
and I still persist in thinking that she alone has 
been the cause of what has happened." 

The Emperor continued : 

*' Truly, the mind becomes bewildered in this 
affair : if I examine the reasons which you 
have adduced, and supported by your asser- 
tions, it seems to me as you say, that the Em- 
press has plotted the abduction of your son. 
But if I oppose to these reasons, her attitude, 
her indignation and anger, her astonishment 
even, which she manifested when I asked her if 
she had any clue to the mystery surrounding 
this drama, I must believe in her perfect inno- 
cence. 'I know nothing about the person df 
whom 3"ou speak to me, and T do not wisli to 
know anything about lier. Tliis person com- 
plains that her son has been stolen. If she had 
taken good care of him, which was her dut}' as 
a mother, he would not have been separated 
from her.' Such were the words of the Em- 
press. A woman who expresses lierself thus. 



NAPOJ.i:uN 111. AM> I.ADV STUAllT. 1 -U 

\viLli thib luirshiiess ol" iiumner towards n weep- 
ing inother is not a guilty wuiiuui. Besides 1 
declare that nothing in her manner during our 
couversatiou, was of a nature to conlirm ^our 
suspicions. No emotion, no embarrassment be- 
trayed Jier secret thoughts. If such a secret 
existed in the breast of the Empress, it would 
liave revealed itself by some look or movement 
which could not have escaped me. One can 
hardly attribute to her a knavery which is so 
little in accord with her general character." 

Lady Stuart who had listened to the Emperor 
coldh- and with perfect calmness, replied : — 

'• You defend the Empress, sire, and in that 
you do well : you do what every gallant man 
would do in your place, when he s[)eaks of his 
wife in the presence of her who is only his 
mistress. But I regret that I do not share your 
optimistic belief. The future certainly will 
show that you are deceived." 

The Emperor did not reply, and in a pro- 
found melancholy left Lady Stuart. 



132 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The year 1869 — the last but one of the reign 
of the Emperor Napoleon 111. — was troubled, 
as is well-known, by political movements hostile 
to the imperial dynasty and all were filled with 
apprehension at the uncertainty of the future. 

The Emperor then suffered more than any- 
one else in this state of affairs from uneasiness 
of mind, but, as though by a sort of fatality, his 
wish to counteract the perils which he foresaw, 
was almost annihilated b}^ a succession of domes- 
tic dramatic events Avhicli had for a stage the Tuil- 
eries, and for the actors some of his intimate 
friends. 

Tiie tragic event which sprang from the riv- 
alry between the Empress and Lady Stuart, 
was, indeed, not the only one of the kind, which 
was revealed at this time, and if it presents a 
more romantic aspect than the analogous events 
wliicli were so numerous, at the same time still 
it would be curious to relate some of them. 



NAl'OI.KdN III. AXD LADY STUART. 133 

I will oiil}' ri'kite one of them because in its 
recital it gives a vivid idea of tliat feverish life 
which cliaracterized the members of the Court, 
and the life at the Tuileries. 

I am about to tell of the scandal which com- 
pelled one of the most intimate companions of 
the Empress — she who was known as the beau- 
tiful Comtesse de B to leave the Court, 

and the sanguinary consequences which fol- 
lowed it. 

Mme. de B. who was one of the most charm- 
ing ladies of the palace of the Empress Eugenie, 
was not the less eager in taking her part in the 
pleasures of all kinds w^hich were offered to the 
habitues of the Chateau, and if she w^as justly 
renowned for her elegance and her beauty, she 
was equally so for her daring amours. She was 
as much talked about at the palace for her easy 
virtue as for her physical perfection. 

The wife of General B., she cared but little 
for the jealousy of her husband, and she sur- 
rendered herself without restraint to all love af- 
fairs which fell in her wa}'. 

For a long time the General said nothing, but 



134 ^'APOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

there came a time when his patience was ex- 
hausted and gave place to an anxious care for 
liis dignity. 

As long as his wife had appeared to him to 
be only imprudent, he paid no attention to the 
reports which he heard about her, and he dis- 
dained to interfere and exert his authority. 
But the conduct of Mme. de B. soon became 
so shameless, and tlie scandals about her so 
precise, and so circumstantial, that he could no 
longer remain inactive or silent. 

He could not doubt that like man}' husbands 
he was being deceived, and he determined to 
know who was the lover of his wife. 

One evening, wdien the}- returned from the 
Tuileries, instead of bowing to the countess at 
the threshold of her door, he passed through 
the door and resolutely seated himself near 
her. 

• Mme. de B., who had not for several months 
lived with her husband, was much astonished 
at this unforeseen attack from so insignificant 
a foe, and one who even seemed to be com- 
plaisant, and it was not without irritation tluit 



NAP(iLl!:oN III. AND LADY STUART. 135 

slie asked the General the reason for the sur- 
prise. 

M. de B.'s answer was very explicit. 

" Madam," said he, " you have a lover and I 
am here to ask you to tell me his name." 

The countess, who had not expected a jeal- 
ous scene, but attributed the visit of her hus- 
band to a caprice, a return of his passion for 
her, was a little taken aback. Her irritation 
increased and made her awkward, for in place 
of laughing at the whim of the General, or 
being indignant at it, as is customary under 
such circumstances, as so many wives know, 
she affected a sarcastic air, and amused herself 
by further torturing the poor man by feigned 
con fessions. 

" Truly," said she, " you have learned that I 
have a lover, and you wish me to give you his 
name? " 

The General made an affirmative gesture. 

" And wherefore this desire," continued the 

countess. " It can only arise from unkind 

motives. Well, supposing T tell you this name, 

what would v<'U do ? You are a dissembler, 



136 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

and are not skilled in concealing your thoughts 
— I believe you would kill the man I sliould 
name." 

M. de B, was a single-hearted man of a 
frank, straightforward nature. He did not un- 
derstand his wife's raillery and he replied im- 
prudently : 

" Perhaps." 

The countess sneered. 

" Then I won't give you the name." 

The General's calmness was exhausted, and 
the countess, who had only known him as a 
confiding and attentive husband, could no 
longer have any doubt of the violence of which 
he was capable. 

She had scarcely uttered her refusal, when 
the General seized her violently, bruising her 
flesh, as, lialf-suffocated with rage, he gasped 
threateningly : 

'^ You will tell me this name — I insist on it — . 
And when I know it, I will kill, yes, I will 
kill the miserable man who bears it — Yon have 
guessed correctly — I will kill liim like a dog." 

Mme. de B., agitated and terrified, tried to 



NAPOLEON III. AND LAUY STUART. 187 

escape from the grasp of her husband, but he 
gripped her with so terrible a hold that it was 
iuipossible for her to free herself, wliile he still 
kept repeating the same words, as though 
under the influence of a hallucination: 

*' The name — the name— the name? " 

At last despairing of obtaining any informa- 
tion from his wife, who remained mute, and 
submitted to his violence, with one push he 
cast her far from him, and began to reflect. 

" This man must have written to you," he 
growled. " Not only do I insist on his name, 
but you must hand me his letters." 

And as Mme. de B. remained motionless : 

" Come," he said, "' obey, or I swear to you 
I will have them even if I am obliged to smash 
everything here to find them." 

This scene threatened to have no outcome, 
for the last sentence pronounced by the Gen- 
eral precipitated the denouement. 

The countess, whether from a feeling of fear, 
weariness or refined perfidy — who can analyze 
the thoughts of a woman at certain times ? — 
suddenly rose and pointing out with her finger 



138 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

to her husband, a piece of furniture, mur- 
mured : 

" Please do not break anything whatever. I 
have letters, it is true : they are in the chiffon- 
nier. Open it and search — here is the key." 
■ The General had no trouble in possessing 
himself of the secret correspondence of his 
wife. She hud not lied. She possessed love 
letters, and these letters were all in the piece 
of furniture which she had pointed out. 

Only as the}' were in packages, and as there 
were four of them M. de B. had the curiosit}- 
to compare the hand writings, and finding that 
the writing in all of them was different, he 
pushed his investigations further, when he ex- 
perienced a surprise which he could not pos- 
sibly have foreseen. In place of one lover, his 
wife had four ; a celebrated Ambassador, M. le 
Chevalier Nigra; a young colonel of cavalry, 
M. de G. as famous for his gallantries as for his 
pranks Avhicli they tolerated at the Tuileries ; 
M. le Comte de L., a sportsman; and M. le 
Marquis de C, a Chamberlain : these last pos- 
sessors of enormous fortunes. 



NAl'OI-i:uN 111. AND LADV S 1 L A K T. W.) 

Aniiized, tlie General iiirued over the letters 
ill liis hands, and was silent. The countess 
whose frivolity was incorrigible profited by this 
minute of quietness to recover her liberty, and 
ready this time for flight if her husband again 
became violent. She defied him. 

" Well, you are satisfied, and I hope you are 
going to leave me in peace now. You wanted 
me to give you the name of one lover : I offer 
you four. You remember the proverb ; an 
abundance of wealth •" 

With a hasty movement the General threw 
the letters back into the drawer of the chiffon- 
nier, and without replying to the railler}- of his 
wife, left the room. 

But this incident had an epilogue. The Gen- 
eral fought with the lovers of his wife, who were 
astonished to learn of their collaboration in the 
loves of Mme. de 15. lie fought with the Chev- 
alier Nigra, with Colonel de G., with the Mar- 
quis de C, and lastly with the Comte de L., 
who killed him with a sword thrust through the 
heart. 

There was a scandal at the Tuileries. The 



140 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

affair was known to the newspapers, but they 
were compelled to abstain from commenting on 
it under pain of suppression, and the Emperor, 
by the advice of his ministers, determined to 
concoct a fable to explain the death of General 
de B., who died according to order from heart 
complaint. 

This story, in combination with so many other 
identical ones, shows, I repeat, with what reck- 
lessness the women who surrounded the Em- 
press abandoned themselves to the life of folly 
and sensuality which was the ver^' existence of 
the Court : it equally shows with what con- 
tempt for the future, though it was then suf- 
ficiently gloomy, they continued to revel like 
unconscious, swooning sultanas in the arms of 
their lovers, protected by the Empress whom 
these intrigues even though dramatic, amused. 

Lady Stuart knew of tlie incident of Mme.de 
B. ; and while she regretted it when she thought 
of the sorrow it would cause the Emperor, she 
rejoiced, because of the hate which she bore to 
the entire feminine circle of the Empress. This 
incident could not but cast discredit on this 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 141 

circle, ami it revengt'd liersomewliat for thedis- 
daiii and envy of which she Jiad been the vic- 
tim at tlic 'I'uileries— and for tiie hypocritical 
scruples which her own story had excited. 

As all her thourrhts were for her missinc son, 
she did not linger long over the satisfaction 
which this scandal gave her, and soon forgot it, 
to devote herself wholly to the task which she 
liad undertaken. 

Tiiis task as Detective Frcpont had said was 
a thankless, and difficult one, and almost im- 
possible to accomplish in accordance witli the 
terms of the vow made by tlie interested party. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Since the visit of the detective to La Ver- 
ricre, and the interview that the young lady 
liad had with the Emperor, man}^ days fruitless 
in results had passed, waiting for a clue, for an 
event which permitted of hope for a successful 
issue. 



142 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

Detective Frepont was clever, however, and 
was not discouraged. He held one of the 
threads to the plot which had been hatched 
against Lady Stuart, and he declared with en- 
ergy that in spite of the fraiitj' of the thread, 
he would find the key to the drama by its aid, 
and recover the child. 

He frequently saw Lady Stuart to give her an 
account of his progress, and to combat the sad- 
ness and dejection which oppressed her. TJie 
Countess Ellen listened to him, but her sadness 
increased in proportion as time passed, without 
a solution, and it seemed as if it was only 
through politeness that she henceforth replied 
to his assurances of success. 

"I feel I am going to die,'" she said to him. 
"Go, my good Frepont; and make haste and 
find my poor little one, if you wish me to be able 
to embrace hira again. Sorrow will kill me." 

Frrpont who was a good fellow, and who was 
sincerely devoted to Lady Stuart, inwardly 
grieved at lier increasing despair. He left her 
declaring, that he "• would assuredly bring her 
some news the next time," and, when he was 



NAPOLKON III. AM) LADV STL'AKT. 1 13 

obliged to report to her again tlie lailuie of Ins 
efforts, lie hesitated to cross the threshold of 
her liotel. 

Lady Stuart had hated the Empress ever 
since she suspected lier of being the instigator 
of the abdui'tioii of her son. liut Lady Stuait 
was a mother, and a motlier, in the love which 
slic bears her child, can not only forget her 
anger, but she can humiliate herself before him 
or her who has made her suffer, if she believes 
that this humiliation may be favorable to the 
mitigation or removal of her grief. 

It was ill this state of mind that the young 
lady, one day, recognizing the slowness of the 
enquiry instituted by the detective, and being 
convinced of its fruitlessness, determined to so 
and find tlio Emjiress and beseech lier on her 
knees to pardon her for a rivalry which she re- 
gretted ; to beseech her to tell her as a reward 
fi>r so much abnegation and wounded pride, 
wliat she had done with her chihl. The Em- 
press was a motlier. She would certainly for- 
get the insult wliich Lady Stuart had inflicted 
on lier, and would restore her that son for 



144 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

whom she distractedly extended her arms — that 
son whom in a spirit of reprisal, she had 
snatched from her. She would take her child, 
separate herself from the Emperor, would leave 
Paris, France, — Europe even, — she would live 
only for her dear little one, and would bless her 
who after having made her unhappy, wlio after 
having punished her for an audacity which she 
ought never to have manifested, would grant 
her peace, life, joy. 

This resolution haunted her the whole of one 
afternoon. But towards evening, wlien the 
shades of night were falling around her, her 
angry sorrow brought about a reaction of ideas 
in her, and she was indignant at the thought of 
crawling vanquished to the feet of her, who 
had not hesitated to strike her such a cruel 
blow. Then slie recovered all her fierce energ}^ 
told herself that detective Fr^pont was right, 
that her child would be found, and that she 
should oppose to the hatred, which pursued her, 
a hatred as intense and as much to be feared, 
and not the submission of a sentimental woman, 
of a daughter chastised and repentant. 



NAPOLKON III. AND l.ADY STUAKT. 145 

And then in the gradual exaltatiun of her 
thoughts, she gave a cry, a terrible cry. She 
turned towanl the palace which sheltered her 
enemy and took an oath that if she were des- 
tined to cherish her maternal sorrow for ever, 
to revenge herself, even if in the execution of 
her vengeance she should be compelled to cause 
a terrible scandal, by making a direct attack on 
the person of the Empress : though she should 
be obliged to kill her who had stolen her hap- 
piness from her, who had plunged an inextric- 
able thorn in her heart, which each day pierced 
deeper into the flesh and deluged her with 
blood. In her nervous excitement she did not 
ask herself what they would do with her after 
the attempt — after the drama. They might 
cause her to disappear, shut her up in a mad- 
house, even kill her. Her fate mattered little. 
She wished for revenge, and her whole soul was 
bent on the end which she contemplated. 

As nothing occurred to change the course of 

her feelings, and as the detective Frepont, who- 

alone could have procured her some relief, could 

offer her nothing but vague assurances of suc- 

10 



146 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

cess, she gave him no hint of the project which 
she meditated. She busied herself in making 
arrangements for this project, to prepare for 
this senseless design, which hurried her in spite 
of herself towards iri'eparable violence. 

About this time, Parisian correspondence ad- 
dressed to foreign journals and some French 
papers, spoke with uneasiness, and much mys- 
tery of a strange event which recurred each 
time that the Empress left the Tuileries for a 
promenade. 

These journals stated that there was great 
uneasiness at the Chateau among the suite of 
the sovereigns, as well as at the Prefecture of 
Police, with regard to a woman dressed in black, 
her face concealed by a somewhat thick veil to 
avoid recognition, who unwearyingly watched 
the movements of the Empress, boldly advanc- 
ing until she touched the carriage when she 
perceived her. 

This woman looked like a living statue of 
despair and by her muteness and ghostly im- 
mobility seemed so threatening that she alarmed 
those who had charge of the sovereign. 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUAKT. 147 

As for the I^inpiess the first appearances of 
tlie woman in black did not disturb lier. She 
paid no more attention to this sorrowful appari- 
tion, than to those who usually crowded around 
her horses to look at her. But soon the atti- 
tude of the woman interested her more. Her 
eyes having met those of the woman, she 
thought she saw a glance of hatred flash from 
behind her impenetrable veil and she was 
afraid. The Empress it is known, was not 
given to fear — to an acknowledged fear, pro- 
ceeding from a natural and palpable fact. But 
she was superstitious and the sudden advent, 
the ominous appearance of a mysterious being, 
a stranger to her life, troubled her. At first, 
she refused to see in this almost daily appari- 
tion, anything but an incident due to an un- 
lucky accident: then the woman in black ex- 
isted in her imagination as a funereal vision, 
haunted her hours of solitude, and she began 
to dread meeting her, as one dreads an evil 
omen, and even to avoid going out, for fear of 
brushing against her mourning garments. 

The Emperor who was informed of this fact, 



148 XAPOLEON 111. AND LADY STUART. 

and to whom the worry of the Empiess was re- 
lated, ordered an investigation, and commanded 
that he should be informed of the name and ad- 
dress of the woman. 

The answer which his police officers made 
him, terrified him. The woman in black 
who was spreading such consternation in hi& 
suite and in the mind of his wife, was Lady 
Stuart. 

He did not at all doubt that the attitude of 
this woman who was until recently, his mis- 
tress, concealed some tragic design, some at- 
tempt against the Empress, and he resolved to 
avert the trouble of which he had a presenti- 
ment. 

Once more he despatched M. Hyrvoix to 
Lady Stuart, to beg her by the remembrance of 
the affection which he had had for her, of tlie 
sympathy which he had lavished on her to 
cease making these dramatic appearances before 
the sovereign. 

The Emperor could have made use of his 
authority, in spite of the bonds which had 
united him to the young woman, to compel her 



NAPOLKON 111. AND LADY KTUAliT. 149 

to put a stop to tliese doings. He contented 
himself with begging her to obey him, and this 
apparent dei'erence which he showed her then 
touched lier sincerely. 

Without renouncing her vengeance, she took 
into consideration the worry which she was un- 
justly causing the Emperor in acting thus and 
she desired M. Hyrvoix to tell him that his 
wishes would be respected. 

She appeared indeed no more before the Em- 
press who, freed from this annoying siege, 
quickly forgot her uneasiness, as her capricious 
nature forgot so many other things, frivolous or 
grave. 

Although she had 3-ielded to the Emperor's 
wish in relieving the sovereign from the in- 
tolerable punishment which slie was pleased 
to inflict upon her. Lady Stuart taxed her in- 
genuity to devise a means of implacably aveng- 
ing herself. In her stress of mind, she 
planned the most extravagant and impractic- 
able designs. It was thus she conceived the 
project of forming a plot for the abduction of 
the Empress, to seize her person, and having 



150 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

lier in her power to force her to reveal the 
whereabouts of her child. 

She knew the habits of the Empress. She 
knew that her enemy occasionally went out in 
the morning simpl}'^ accompanied by one of her 
ladies, perhaps to visit the shops in the Rue do 
la Paix, followed at a distance by the famous 
chestnut-colored coupt', and it seemed to her 
that under these conditions it would not be dif- 
ficult to accomplish a forcible abduction. She 
would spend money freely to secure assistance 
and she would find some adventurer ready to> 
sell her his support. This plan was foolish : 
but hate is the mother of follies. 

While she was under the influence of this 
feverish preoccupation, Lady Stuart resolved 
one day to take vengeance herself without the 
aid of a mercenary arm. 

One morning passing the Rue de Rivoli and 
walking along the railing of Tuileries, followed 
by her carriage, the horse going at a walk,, 
parallel with her, she suddenly came face to 
face with the Empress, who when she saw her^ 
stopped and turned pale. 



NAPOLEON Til. AND LADY STUART. 151 

Tile two women for a second, measured one 
another with their eyes: then an uncontrollable 
rage seized Lady Stuart, and she prepared to 
demand an explanation from which would re- 
sult the confession she had waited for so long. 

If the Empress did not quite understand the 
diama whicli was about to be played, she at 
least understood the falseness of her position. 
Justly frightened too at the attitude of the 
Countess Ellen, she tried to shun the meeting, 
and getting behind the lady who was with her, 
she looked around for her coupe. 

At that moment, the only carriage near her 
was that of Lady Stuart. Mistaking it for her 
own, she ran to the door and opened it. 

Then the Englishwoman uttered a cry of 
triumph. At a bound, she reached the Empress 
and was already about to push her into the 
carriage, when her attendant who was observing 
this scene without entirely understanding the 
importance of it, approached the Empress and 
said: 

" The Empress is mistaken — that is not her 
coupe." 



152 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

The young woman quickly recoiled and 
avoiding the clasp of Lady Stuart, she walked 
away swiftly. 

This incident passed so rapidly that those 
who witnessed it did not remark its dramatic 
character. It remained the secret of the inter- 
ested parties and the premature and unforseen 
miscarriage of the plan which she meditated, 
caused a reaction in the mind of the Countess 
Ellen. She saw that henceforth she must 
avoid any public scandal which had for its end 
the placing of her whom she hated at her 
mercy ; she understood that prudence, the most 
absolute prudence, would answer her purpose 
better in the search for her son, than threats 
which were not easy to put into effect or even 
acts of violence which could be executed. She 
again placed all her hope in detective Fre^pont 
and awaited from him, with resignation, the 
word which would restore her her happiness or 
would kill her. 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 153 



CHAPTER XVI. 

If detective Frcpont seemed to be slow in 
his investigation, in reality, he was losing no 
time. 

As he had told Lady Stuart after his visit to 
the former guardians of Jack, the woman who 
abducted the child must have been a woman of 
fashion although connected with the police : 
and having decided upon the plan of his in- 
vestigation, he entered upon the campaign for 
her discovery, furnished only with the feeble 
clue which he possessed — the precious handker- 
chief which had been entrusted to him. 

Under various plausible pretexts, he visited 
the majority of the women whom he knew to 
be secretly attached to the police, and tried to 
solve the mystery which confronted him. But 
notliing in the words or the actions of these 
women, nothing in their personal belongings 
had given him the information which he de- 
sired. 



154 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

The handkerchief was ornamented with two 
interlaced, embroidered M's. Frepont first of 
all visited the women whose surnames and 
Christian names corresponded with these in- 
itials. Having met with no success in this 
direction, he had not hesitated to visit those 
whose names did not correspond with the tell- 
tale initials. A woman, he argued with reason, 
may make use of some article — such as a fine 
handkerchief — which not having been intended 
for her, bears the initials of some other 
person. 

In thus going to these different women, he 
was very careful to make no mention of the La 
Verri^re drama : but he hoped that one of them, 
in the course of conversation might place him 
on the hidden track for which he was looking ; 
that one of them might, perhaps, display a 
handkerchief similar to that which he carefully 
preserved, and would thus betray her guilt. 

His investigations were fruitless. Frepont 
began to ask himself if he would not be wise in 
abandoning a trail which became less and less 
clear, and if he had not cherished a vain hope in 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 155 

taking for the basis of his operations the ele- 
gant rag dropped in the garden at La Verri6re. 
In his doubt and hesitation he was preparing to 
give a new direction to his investigation, when 
an incident which he could not foresee— one of 
those incidents which are often of more service 
to men than all the ability and science in life — 
confirmed his first convictions and gave a fresh 
impetus to his suspicions. 

Having been summoned to give some infor- 
mation to the residence of one of the most 
prominent public men of the day, the most 
feared at the Tuileries for his implacable op- 
position to the imperial power — M. E. de G., 
and having been shown into his room, Fr(5pont 
of a sudden espied in a drawer in which M. de 
G. was rummaging, a fine piece of linen lying 
in a corner among his papers. It seemed to 
him that this rag had some analogy with that 
in his possession, and he determined not to be 
content with a simple probability, and not to 
leave without having discovered his mistake, 
or proved the subtlety of his instinct as a 
detective. 



156 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUAKT. 

By a movement of M. de G., in turning over 
the things contained in the drawer, the hand- 
kerchief fell on the floor. 

Fr^pont — whom circumstances were decid- 
edly favoring — picked it up and feigning in- 
difference, was about to replace it, when he 
stopped. Affecting a tone of Parisian blague 
and holding the handkerchief between two 
lingers, by one of the corners, so as to com- 
pletely unfold it, he said jokingly : 

" It appears there are all sorts of things in 
your drawer, M. de G., even love tokens " 

" What are you saying ? " replied the journa- 
list. 

'" Nothing but what is flattering to you I sup- 
pose. What do you call that trifle there if not 
a love token? You cannot make me believe 
that it was made for your use " 

While he was speaking thus, the detective 
had an opportunity to examine the handker- 
chief, and he was filled with an intense joy. It 
was an exact reproduction of the one in his 
possession. He must learn the name of the 
woman who had left it at M. de G's. house, and 



NAl'ULKON 111. AND LADY STUART. 157 

he employed all liis mt to induce his interlocu- 
tor to menlion her name. 

M. de G. laughed lightly at the familiarity 
of the detective. 

'' No, assuredly, M. Fn'pont," said he, " I 
will not tell you tiiat I blow my nose with such 
precious things. Would to God that I had 
never seen the nose that has been rubbed with 
that." 

"A knavish little nose that has been faith- 
less, eh ? " the detective remarked. " That is 
a nice afifair. Does one ever regret having 
known a pretty woman ? " 

" One does regret to have known a hussy." 

" Men are all alike," the detective exclaimed ; 
"as soon as a woman deceives them — hard 
words." 

M. de G. became interested in this conversa- 
tion which awoke memories of the past. He 
turned towards Fn'pont and fixing his ej^es on 
him, said : 

" I repeat to you that the woman to whom 
this handkerchief belonged, is a hussy. Be- 
sides you know her better than I do." 



158 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

" I know her ? " 

"Certainly. She is one of the most adroit 
assistants at the Ministry of the Interior, in 
the department of the Political Police, and 
my little secrets have come out through 
her." 

" What are you telling me ? " 

" The truth." 

"You puzzle me." 

" The woman in question is named Martha 
Masson" 

Frcpont at this moment, made an involun- 
tary movement, the cause of which M. de G. 
misunderstood. 

" You see you know her," he continued. 
" The first time I saw her it was at the office 
of the paper where she came to propose to me 
some society articles — or rather articles about 
the demi-monde. I did not accept her articles, 
but asked her for something else, which she 
willingly granted me. I ought to have been 
suspicious of this too rapid submission. She is 
charming. I was in love with her and she 
came to my house. Then one night when she 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STL'AKT. 159 

thought 1 was asleep, I surprised her standing 
in her night-dress in the middle oF the room 
^vith some papers in her hand. I jumped out 
of bed and went to her and in the explanation 
which took place between us it appeared that 
taking advantage of my confidence and when 
1 was asleep, she had rummaged in my cabinet 
and had robbed me of very important letters 
and documents. Was that her debut in violat- 
ing my confidence? I don't know yet. I 
turned her out without insisting upon her giv- 
ing me an account of lier past which I think 
she would scarcely have confessed. She left 
this handkerchief with me. I shall not be the 
one to return it to her." 

The detective was radiant. At last he held 
the key to the mystery, which he had so long 
despaired of discovering ; but he preserved his 
joking air of good-nature, and while pleading 
extenuating circumstances for the mistress of 
M. de G., he replied : 

" Perhaps you are wrong to be alarmed. 
This poor girl whom I know indeed (on the 
the contrary, her name was not on his list) did 



160 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

she really play this melodramatic pait in your 
house that you attribute to her ? "' 

The journalist burst out laughing. 

" See here, my dear Frepont," cried he, '' if 
you capture a gentleman in the act of picliing 
your [lOcket, and taking your purse, would you 
not see in liini a thief? " 

Tlie detective did not wish to enter into a 
discussion with M. de G., regarding the virtue 
of Mile. Martha Masson. 

He answered evasively, and concluded : 

" It is a strange story. It is probably the 
most innocent in the life of that woman. You 
ought to know some things about all these 
'' gaillardes' in the pay of the authorities." 

" Yes." 

And after a pause, the detective added : 

" Tiiere are some among them who have 
committed crimes." 

As he said this he handed the handkerchief 
to M. de G., and it disappeared in the drawer 
from which it came. 

That same day in the evening, detective 
Frepont presented himself at the house of 



NAPOLEON lir. AND LADY STUART. 161 

Lady Stuart, and narrated to her the facts 
which had come to liis knowledge. 

The young woman was so delighted to hear 
the news, that the detective feared she might 
commit some imprudence. 

" Yes," said he, " T believe that this time we 
have our hands on our unknown woman. To- 
morrow, I will go to her house : we will then 
have an interview and decide on the course 
wliich we must pursue. Henceforth, madam, 
I shall not be the only one to act, and you will 
be my assistant. I beg of you to control your 
feelings of satisfaction, as the least imprudence 
would render all our efforts abortive. Remem- 
ber that the woman of whom I speak is one 
skilled in intrigues, and in every kind of trick, 
and that one word, an unguarded movement 
will suffice to let her know who we are and to 
upset all our plans ! " 

The woman who had been brought to the 

notice of Frepont by an unforeseen accident, 

Mile, or rather Mme. Martha Masson, enjoyed 

a certain celebrity among the demi-monde 

11 



162 h'APOLEON III. AND LADY STUAKT. 

during the Second Empire, and was under 
diverse circumstances one of the ablest auxil- 
iaries of the political police at that time. 

Very pretty, a woman of fashion, she held 
an envied position, in the fast world, and she 
employed in the choice of her Uaiso)is, a 
method, a circumspection, and an importance 
which never played her false. As a matter of 
fact, only men of high position enjoyed her 
favors. She was from time to time, the mis- 
tress of a foreign ambassador, or of ceitain 
deputies or public men belonging to the repub- 
lican party, then of a noble duke, reigning 
over the faubourg St. Germain, under the 
name of " Roy," and then of a faithful adher- 
ent of the Prince of Orleans, whom it was 
said she arranged to meet as he left the recep- 
tions of the Duchess de Gallicra. This person- 
age although of a ministerial aspect was not 
insensible to feminine wiles. He saw her, was 
conquered, and as the pretty woman had hoped 
became her slave. 

Thus Martlia Masson was allied at that time 
with all the parties adverse to the imperial 



NAPOLi:i)N 111. AND l.ADV STUAUT. 163 

dynasty, as well as with some factions in tiie 
foreign colony. Clever as slie was she man- 
aged to conceal from her lovers the secrets of 
her life, and, though it is reasonable to suppose 
that they did not converse of their political 
business, she nevertheless had opportunities in 
their relations of picking up a chance word or 
a scrap of ^^■riting which she could utilize. 

A num, no matter what his rank or his pru- 
dence, is never beyond committing an indiscre- 
tion, and when this indiscretion takes the shape 
of a pretty woman, the time will come with- 
out doubt when his conlidence will be be- 
tra^'ed. 

Martha Masson found her occupation in con- 
junction with the secret police congenial. In- 
telligent, of an adventurous mind, she was glad 
to hunt up mysteries as long as she could reap 
a pnjfit from them. Indeed, she was well paid 
for her services, and by her occult influence 
she was not far from being a real power. 
Women of tlie class of ^lartha Masson, were 
not rave under the Second Empire. The imper- 
ial dynasty which relied so much upon woman 



104 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

from a worldly point of view, employed women, 
in almost all the phases of its continuance. 

It was known that Mme. la Cumtesse de li. 
one of the Empress Eugenie's suite, \\as an 
ardent politician and devoted her marvellous 
intelligence to the pursuit of politics. It was 
equally well known that Mme la Baronne de 
B., whose exclusive receptions were celebrated 
and even feared, subsidized as they were by the 
secret funds, stood liigh at the Ministry of the 
Interior, and the Department of Police. 

It would take a volume to give a list of all 
tlie women who nnder the second empire, 
revolved around the sovereign nnder the direc- 
tion of M. Pi^tri and his predecessors, and to 
give an account of the comedies or dramas 
w liich were the result of their secret participa- 
tinii in public matters. The police woman at 
that time was recruited from all classes of 
society, but principally from among the aristo- 
crats and the most conspicuous of the dtmi- 
monde. From their multiple relations, these 
women were in a position to pick up informa- 
tion which while it was sometimes useless to 



NArOI.KON III. AND I-ADY STUART. 165 

the governnieul, giving infoniuitioii in advance 
of a plot ov intrigue, and the state of the 
public mind, was never to be despised. 

It was an open secret in the drawing-rooms 
of the aristocracy or those of the demi-monde 
that the police-woman — the spy — to use the 
popular expression — existed ; but they were 
rarely discovered, and it was due to the uneasi- 
ness occasioned by the possibility of their pres- 
ence, that the mistrust existed which charac- 
terized the men of the Second Empire. Above 
all, in the last years of its existence was 
developed this distrust. It was impossible to 
go to a ball, or a party, or a fete without being 
suspected of being a conspirator, and the most 
gracious speeches as well as the softest looks 
were suspected. Happy at that time, were 
tho.se who being nothing or wishing for nothing 
from the State, took their pleasure with the idea 
only of enjoying to the fullest the nights or 
days of pleasure offered to them. 

Miss Martha Masson at that time was one of 
these women : but was she the woman of whom 
detective Frepont was in search, who, as Lady 



166 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

Stuart thought, had been the unconscious and 
passive instrument of tlie hate of the Emjjress ? 

This was tlie problem to be solved by the 
detective. As he had told his employer, the 
day after his conversation with her, he called 
at the house of Miss Masson, who occupied a 
very luxurious apartment in the Monceau 
quarter, in a newly constructed building, con- 
spicuous from its scarcely dried mortar. 

The detective rang the bell, of the pretty girl, 
in the morning. This hour seemed to him to 
be the most favorable for his expedition. He 
thought indeed that Miss Masson still in bed or 
at her toilette, would receive him, and that 
when alone with her it would be easy for him 
to pick up some clue to the case of which he 
had charge. 

He was not deceived. Miss Masson engaged 
with her powders and her perfumes, when he 
was announced, asked him to wait for her for a 
moment. 

She was dressed and charming when she 
entered the room, and the detective was almost 
overcome by her beauty. His profession as 



NAl'OLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 167 

well as the motive which took him to her house 
dill not permit of any gallantries, and he left 
to chance the opportunity for furnishing an ex- 
cuse for his visit, when he exi)erienced a some- 
what unpleasant surprise. 

Miss Masson before commencing the conver- 
sation, said : 

" When they told me just now that a gentle- 
man wished to see me I was far from thinking 
of you." 

The astonished detective stammered : 

" You know me, madam ? " 

" Yes, you are Mr. Frepont, and I don't sup- 
pose that it is for the pleasure of seeing me 
that I am indebted for your visit." 

" It would be a pleasure," replied the detec- 
tive who had recovered his sangfroid, and who 
saw that he could not conceal his identity, "but 
you are right : I am charged with a mission for 
you." 

And he added : " You see, madam, that I 
have the happiness of knowing you." These 
words placed the interlocutors on an equal 
footing. 



168 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

Miss Massoii manifested no surprise wlieii 
she leiirned that her secret functions were 
known to Frdpont, besides it did not appear 
singular to her that an agent should know her 
since she knew him herself. 

" What is your mission to me," she asked. 

The detective pretended to recoil : then he 
drew near to the pretty girl, and leaning over 
her, affected a confidential tone : 

" A pretty delicate mission," he murmured. 
And purposely employing the slang of his trade, 
he continued : 

" You ' work,' as I do, more for the govern- 
ment than for private individuals. In the case 
in which I am engaged it is a private individual 
wlio requires your services, if you decide to 
assist me. She is rich and will pay well." 

INIiss Masson made a face. 

" I don't much like having to do with private 
individuals : one is obliged in dealing with them 
to come out of one's shell, and the compensa- 
tion does not always make up for the impru- 
dence which one commits.'* 

The detective stopped her. 



XAl'oLKON III. AND LADY STUART. 169 

" The person employing me does not know- 
that I am at your house now. I am entrusted 
witli tlie conduct of a certain matter and I am 
here on my own account. If you refuse to 
help her, she will never know of my visit. If 
you consent to aid her, the pleasure you will 
give her will assure you her gratitude." 

'' What is the nature of the case ? " 

It was necessary to invent a story and the 
detective was equal to the task. 

" A foolish business enough, in truth. A lady 
has a husband whom she does not love and 
whom she cannot bear. She wants a separation 
from him. But as he gives her no pretext for 
bringing suit, she is determined to make one. 
He must be caught in an intrigue with a wo- 
man. Will you play the rule of the woman? 
Are you willing to brave a small scandal and 
the risk of being caught in flagrante delicto? 
If so, it will be easy for you under a feigned 
name and under some pretext to establish the 
necessary relations with tlie husband. You 
will not be left together long. The wife will 
surprise you and will make a scene : your false 



170 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

lover will become indignant, and will swear he is 
innocent. You will be free to imitate him. But 
you will not be believed, the appearances will 
be against ^-ou and the game will be up. The 
separation which is impossible to-day will be ac- 
complished to-morrow." 

Miss Masson listened attentively to the de- 
tective. 

" It is not a complicated matter," she said 
when she spoke. " But why have you selected 
me for an accomplice in such a simple matter? 
The first woman you met would have served 
you as well as I." 

Fr.'pont suppressed a nervous movement, for 
the logic of the demi-mondaine perplexed him. 
But he replied to her with a good-natured air: 

" You are mistaken ; the first woman I meet 
would not do : she might be awkward or she 
might be unwilling to engage in an intrigue. 
With you there will be a scandal. Your 
worldly position and your name will cause the 
matter to be talked about, and the person for 
whom I am acting will benefit for all these rea- 
sons." 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STrART. 171 

Then he added with an air of honest re- 
spect : 

" Besides I have confidence in you because 
you are a ' professiiunil ' because with you one 
can be sure that the business will not be a fail- 
ure and I would never dare to associate with 
me a collaborator in such a case, who did not 
belong to our trade." 

The young girl smiled. 

"All right; I accept. When is it to come 
off? " 

Fr^pont looked cunning. 

"The comedy — when? I don't know yet. I 
had to get your consent first. I have it and 
that is the chief thing. I must now see ray 
client and tell her that I am ready to do what 
she wishes. If she is still of the same mind, I 
will give her your name and we will fix on 
the day ! " 

Miss Masson looked hard at the detective. 

"And the price ? " 

"The price? You are right to remind me of 
that; I had forgotten. When I come and fetch 
yon. I will give you 10.000 francs, and when 



172 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

the curtain falls, you will receive an equal sura. 
Is that satisfactory ? " 

The young woman extended her hand to the 
detective. 

" All right." 

" Till we meet again." 

" G-ood-bye." 

Frepont left Miss Masson after having en- 
gaged her for an imaginary adventure, which 
could only serve his purpose, by bringing Lad}' 
Stuart face to face with the girl and trying to 
establish the fact that she was really the woman 
who abducted the child, from La Verri^re. 
Although he was not sure of this, his instinct 
as a detective told him that she must be the 
woman of whom he was in search, and he de- 
cided to act as if he had received her confes- 
sion. The handkerchief picked up at La Ver- 
rifere and the one which M. de G. had shown 
him were sufficient proofs that he was not de- 
ceived ! And then what had Lady Stuart or he 
to fear if they were mistaken ? Martha Mas- 
son would be angry. But she could be con- 
ciliated by excuses and a consolatory gift, and 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 173 

she would congratulate herself at an event 
which gave her so little trouble and brought her 
so much unexpected profit. 

As he left the house he had decided on his 
plan of action, but as he bent his steps to tlie 
house of Lady Stuart, to tell her what he had 
done, and the rencoittre he had arranged for, be- 
tween her and Miss Masson, without the knowl- 
edge of that young woman, who thought to 
phi}' the part of a woman in love, he reflected 
that he had perhaps better not see the Countess 
Ellen, and he wrote to her inforniiug her of 
wiiat he had done. 

" In two days," he concluded, " I will go 
and fetch Miss Masson and will take her to 
your house. In order to induce her to accom- 
pany me to your house or rather to that of the 
husband with whom I have furnished you, I 
have promised to pay her 10,000 francs. 
Please send me this amount without delay. I 
will not call at your house until the hour for 
action arrives. Miss Masson is a slipjjery cus- 
tomer, and may have me watched : she will 
discover your identity, and she will guess the 



174 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

trap we are laying for her. I will bring her to 
you ill the evening, and by engaging her in 
conversation, I will try to divert her attention 
from the route we are following. Be ready 
then in two days to receive us." 

On the other hand, Frepont addressed a la- 
conic note to Miss Masson : " Be at home 
every evening after you receive these lines. 
Everything has been arranged and I will come 
for you at the proper time." 

Lady Stuart, when she read the detective's 
letter, gave a cry of joy and hate — a cry of joy 
for her child — a cry of hate for the woman 
who had stolen him from her — and who she 
did not doubt would soon be crouching on her 
knees before her pitiless hate. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

The two days which elapsed between the 
sending and the receipt of these letters, were 
two feverish ones for Lady Stuart and the de- 
tective. 



NAfOLKON HI. AND LADY STUART. 175 

The hour set for action at length sounded, 
and on the evening of the second day of wait- 
ing, a carriage stopped before Miss Masson's 
house. The detective alighted, quickly passed 
the porter's lodge, and soon found the young 
woman faithful to the appointment she had 
made with him. When she saw Frdpont, she 
made a movement of pleasure and smiled. 

" Do you know," said she to him, " that I 
was beginning to get tired of staying at home 
as if I was in prison? You have come to de- 
liver me, I suppose?" 

'• The matter is fixed for to-night," replied 
the detective, " and your captivity ends. Are 
you ready ? " 

- Look." 

At this invitation, the detective looked hard 
at her. She was well got up to play the part 
he had invented — the heroine of a love affair. 
Very simply but coquettishly dressed, her 
beauty enhanced by the nervous excitement 
caused by the part she was to play, rendered 
her su[)remel3' seductive. 

'• You are adorable," said he, "and just what 



176 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

you ought to be for our intrigue.'' Then, 
smilingly, "ah, ha, don't tell me any nonsense: 
don't let your lover escape before he ' bites.' '' 

Miss Masson joked in her turn : 

" Don't be afraid. The programme will be 
faithfully carried out. I will not answer for 
the consequences of the comedy, however, and 
if I am really going to be loved as you say — " 

The detective interrupted her, cynically, and 
playing his part to })erfection : 

'' You would allow yourself to be loved, 
wouldn't you ? Well, that is not forbidden — 
on the contrary — " 

" Unhappily it is more probable that my un- 
willing lover will turn me out when he learns 
that he has been duped." 

" Who knows ? " 

" It is true — who knows — men are so whim- 
sical — " 

As she talked she was putting on her street 
clothing, and was ready for Frepont. But 
when she was ready to follow him she took 
him by the arm. 

" Apropos, my dear Mr. Frepont, it might be 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 177 

useful for me to know now the niune of the 
gentleman whom I am going to compromise." 

Tiie detective slapped his forehead as if re- 
proaching himself for his forgetfulness. 

" Pardon me," he said, " I am distracted — 
we are going to visit Count de Norc." 

The young woman seemed to be taxing her 
memory, 

" Count de Nor^ — that is not much like a 
Parisian name. For my part, I don't know 
it." 

" There is nothing surprising in that," said 
the detective, who did not wish to arouse her 
suspicions. "The Count and Countess de Nor^ 
lived in retirement in the country before set- 
tling themselves in Paris, where they have only 
been a short time." 

And he added philosophically: " They 
would have done very much better not to have 
come here, for Paris, so far as we can judge, 
does not seem to have brought them happiness." 

Miss Masson accepted this natural explana- 
tion but remained motionless in front of her 
companion. 
12 



178 KAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

" Well,'' said the detective, " are you coming; 
it is time." 

" Didn't you promise to give me 10,000 francs 
when you came to fetch me?" 

Frepont roared with laughter. 

"Ah, you didn't forget that promise, my 
sweet child, and you are right The 10,000 
francs are in my pocket. They will be yours 
the moment we cross the threshold of the 
Hotel de Nore." 

"Why don't you give it to me now?" 

The detective winked his eyes and looked 
surly. 

"We are not going to be suspicious of one 
another; that would advance neither the affairs 
of our client nor our own. I liave it — be sure 
once for all — for I believe we shall have further 
dealings together. What assurance have I that 
if I pay you now, you will not make me a 
curtsy, and give up the little job awaiting 
you? In such a case wliat recourse have I 
against you. Come, no equivocation between 
us. T will give it to you. Does that suit 
you?" 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUARr. 17'.> 

"Be it so," she answered dr} ly. "Let us be 
off." 

And she added, "You will never die of over- 
confidence, my dear fellow." 

This brief discussion of interests, between 
the detective and his companion caused a slight 
coolness. She entered the coupe which was 
standing at her door, curled up in a corner and 
was nearly silent during the journey from her 
house to that of Lady Stuart. This sullenness 
\\as useful to Fropont who feared that the 
young woman Avould be too inquisitive as to 
where she was being taken and doubtful of the 
role which she had accepted. He left her to 
her ill-humor and did not address a word to her 
until the carriage came to a stop in front of the 
hotel. 

He then drew a pocket-book from the inside 
pocket of his coat and smiling handed it to the 
young girl. 

•• We are prom^jt in our payments," said he. 
"Here are the 10,000 francs promised. It is 
now for you to earn tliem and as much more." 

Miss Masson seized the pocket-book and in 



180 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

the twinkling of an eye satisfied herself that 
the money was all right. Satisfied with her ex- 
amination, she attempted to get oat of the car- 
riage, but the detective stopped her. 

"Let me ring," he said in a low tone: "you 
must go straight into the house without stop- 
ping on the sidewalk." 

A rapid scene then ensued —a bell sounded, 
— a door was opened and two shadows glided 
into the hotel. 

The comedy planned by the detective was 
now finished, and Lady Stuart was now to 
come upon tlie scene. 

Miss Masson astonished at the detective en- 
tering the house with her, stopped in the hall, 
and turned to him enquiringly : 

"You are coming with me?" 

"For a moment. We will go up to the first 
floor together and as soon as you are there, you 
will go to the right where the apartments of 
the Count are and I will go to the left to the 
Countess' rooms. I will inform her of your 
arrival and M'ill go down-stairs again. If M. 
de Norc appears surprised at your not being 



NAPOLKON III. AND LADY STUAKT. 181 

annouiiceil to him, tell him that you liave seen 
])i.s wife and that she showed you his apart- 
ment." 

Having ascended the staircase without meet- 
ing a single servant, the detective and his com- 
panion stopped and consulted. 

Frcpont pointed out a door to the young 
girl, and said: "It is there," then pushing 
her towards the door he pretended to go away. 
But scarcely had Miss Masson half opened the 
door pointed out to her, than the agent returned 
and made his appearance in the room behind 
her. Then there were some exclamations and 
some confused murmurs. Then a voice — the 
voice of a woman clear and sharp rang out: 

" You did not expect to find a woman here, 
did you mademoiselle?" 

The young girl looked distressed. Without 
understanding what was required of her, she 
guessed that she had fallen into a trap, and she 
felt that some danger threatened her. She cast 
a look at the detective begging for an explana- 
tion of the mystery which she feared and to re- 
proach him for his treachery : but the officer 



182 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

stood immovable in a corner of the room, and 
did not appear to be disposed to gratify her 
curiosity. 

" What does this mean ? " she said : " Where 
am I? where have I been taken ? are 3'ou nut 
the Countess de Nore ? " 

Lady Stuart was very pale and fixed her cruel 
eyes on the 3'oung girl. 

"I am not the Countess de Nore — I have no 
husband — You are here for something else than 
to play the parody of an adulteress." 

Martha Masson was terrified and stammered : 
" Once again, I ask — what does all this that I 
see and hear mean ? The man who stands there 
brought me to this house to accomplish a mis- 
sion that I accepted. He whom I was to meet 
is not here, she whom I was to serve threatens 
me — I want to leave at once, and if you do not 
immediately set me free I will scream— I will 
call for help." 

Lady Stuart re})lied : 

" Your voice will not be heard. Refrain from 
making any noise. You are in my power and 
no one can protect you from me now." 



NAI'OLEON 111. AND LADV Si'UAKT. 183 

Angry and frightened, the young girl de- 
manded : 

'* Will you tell me madam, the reason for 
this ambush?" 

" You shall be satisfied," said Lad}' Stuart. 

Then addressing the detective, she said : 

" Fr^pont, will you kindly show this young 
lady something which will certainly interest 
her? " 

The detective then came forward and drew 
from his pocket the handkercliief found at La 
Verri^re and handed it to the young woman. 

" Do you recognize this article ? " he asked. 

The girl took it from the hands of the detec- 
tive, examined it and said : 

" I recognize that this handkerchief is similar 
to some in my possession, and which were pre- 
sented to me by a person to whom I was for- 
merly of service. I cannot affirm that more 
like them are not in existence, and that this one 
necessarily belongs to me." 

The detective interrupted her firmly. 

" I affirm that this handkerchief is your pro- 
perty, just as much as one that you forgot at 



184 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

the house of M. de G., when he surprised you 
rummaging among his pa[)ers and put you out. 
You lost this one at La Verri^re, in the garden 
of the worthy people to whose house you went 
for the purpose of stealing a child — a little 
boy named Jack. Come, you don't dare deny 
that." 

The young woman seemed half crushed by 
the suddenness of this accusation. She now un- 
derstood all its importance, and tlie motive for 
bringing her to this woman, standing before 
her, and in her fear at the discovery of her iden- 
tity, she attempted a denial. 

" T don't know what you are talking 
about," she said. " I don't know jM. de G., 
and and I know nothing of the story of the ab- 
duction to wliich you allude." 

The dectective became bullying. 

" Don't play the innocent, and above all 
don't attempt to deceive me. We are col- 
leagues, remember, and you are smart enough 
to know that you cannot dupe me. You have 
been the mistress of M. de G. and j'ou are the 
woman wlio committed the abduction at La 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUAKT. 185 

Veni^ie. Confess frankly ; it's the best tiling 
you can do." 

Martha Masson became indignant and as- 
sumed an air of pride. 

''I have been the mistress of M. de G. — that 
is possible ; but that only concerns myself : it 
has no reference to the handkerchief which you 
cast in my teeth, as an irrefutable conviction 
of a crime of which I know nothing." 

"It condemns you." 

" What are you going to do ? " 

" This : you must tell us the place where you 
have taken the child which was given to you at 
La Verriere. Until you give us this informa- 
tion, you will remain our prisoner." 

Martha Masson flew into a violent passion : 

" This is truly unheard of I I repeat to you 
that I am not the guilty person you think me, 
and I will add that if I were guilty, I should be 
justified in demanding by what right you offer 
me violence." 

Lady Stuart then took two paces towards the 
young woman and stood towering over her. 

" The young lady is right," she said : "I have 



186 NAPOLEON in. AND LADY STUART. 

not introduced myself to her." And in a low, 
deep voice she apostrophized her : 

"Miserable, miserable woman, dost thou not 
understand that she who is now interrogating 
thee is the mother of the poor child whom thou 
hast stolen ?" 

The young girl recoiled. " You the mother — " 

"Yes, I Lad}^ Stuart, the mother — the mother 
— dost thou hear of the little creature wliom 
thou hast stolen, and whom thou wilt restore : 
if not, vile prostitute, I will slay thee with my 
own hand." 

Before this revelation and this explosion of 
hate, Martha Masson could not find words to 
express either her fear or her boldness. Hoarse 
sounds rattled in her throat, and she instinct- 
ively made a rush for the door by which she 
had entered. 

But she ran against Frepont who seized her 
by the waist and pushed her back into the 
room. His coolness at this moment contrasted 
strongly with the excitement of Lady Stuait 
and the fear depicted in the face of the young 
girl. 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STrART. 187 

"Madam," said lie, "calm yourself. The 
terror of this girl shows she will confess, and 
she will soon understand that it will be to her 
best interests to give us all the information 
necessary." 

Martha Masson standing motionless in the 
middle of the room looked alternately at the 
detective and at Lady Stuart, as if trying to 
learn her fate from their attitude and also de- 
bating inwardly whether she should confess or 
make a fresh denial. 

She seemed to be about to open her mouth 
to speak : but the shock she had suffered \^as 
too great for her nerves to resist, and with a 
terrible, piercing scream, she burst into tears 
and sobs. 

Lady Stuart was in anguish. "We shall 
know nothing." 

Frcpont chuckled: "Yes, yes, madam, on 
the contrary we shall know all that we wish to 
know. The pretty creature is suffering from a 
nervous attack — good — good — that. If she 
were innocent do you think she would be flut- 
tcrin<r like that? " 



188 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

As he pronounced these words, Frej)ont 
pointed to Miss Masson who, stretched on the 
carpet was beating the air with her arms and 
legs suffering from a bad nervous attack. 

In the disorder of her movements some fem- 
inine belongings fell from the pocket of her 
dress, among them a sort of note-book closed 
with a key. 

The detective saw it and picked it up. Then 
as he turned it over between his fingers, as if 
seized by a sudden resolution he drew a knife 
with a large blade from the fob of his trowsers, 
and without hesitation wrenched off the lock of 
the note-book and commenced to turn over the 
leaves eagerly. 

When Lady Stuart looked at him anxiously, 
he smiled at lier : 

"In our business," he murmured, falling into 
his professional slang, "we men rarely write 
anything about our business. But the women 
who are our colleagues, act differently. They 
generally have a mania for scribbling, and they 
often betray themselves by this, just as simple- 
minded women do, who, when they are in love 



NATULKUN 111. AM> LAI>Y STUART. 189 

hcKucl u[) tlieir letters at the risk of spoiling 
tlieir love affairs." 

He continued his examination of the note- 
book, and was silent for a minute. 

'* Hold," he soon said, " what did I tell you ? 
An account of all that this woman has done for 
some time is given here." 

Lady Stuart did not reply, but left the mat- 
ter to him and seemed to await an unexpected 
result. 

Suddenly the detective exclaimed : "Madam, 
madam, come here and read." 

Lady Stuart flew to his side and leaning over 
him, read this line to which he pointed with his 
finger : 

" To take the child to its destination" 

Above and below these words were accumu- 
lated other notes, but nothing explained them. 
By their brevity and meagerness, there was no 
room for the writer to deny her guilt. 

Lady Stuart in presence of the clearness of 
the revelation made to her, and the hope held 
out to her, felt her strength fail hei' in the hour 
of victory, felt as faint as .'■lie Ii;;d been strong 



190 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

in the contest, and running to a seat she 
croLicIied on it weeping. 

The detective was moved. 

" Weep, madam," said he good-naturedly, "• it 
will do you good : but you must cry for joy 
now. My faith ! it is just as good as if we had 
already found the little one." 

Then going to Martha Masson who was still 
stretched upon the carpet but who had quieted 
down, he took her hands which he patted, and 
spoke to her in a milder tone as he showed her 
the note-book. 

" No more use denying it. We know all. 
Come, rouse yourself a little." 

The girl heard what Frcpont said, and un- 
derstood that it was useless for her to persist 
in her denial, and it wa.s suppliantly that she 
turned to Lady Stuart and gave her a true 
account of the crime she had committed. 

" A woman whom I do not know and whom 
I could not even recognize, so heavilj- was she 
veiled, but who was sent to me by a high offi- 
cial, with an order from the Prefect of Police 
came to me one evening and ordered me to 



NAPOLEON ]II. AND LADY STUART. 191 

take the child from La V^erriure, and take him 
to A. near Nancy. I thought that a mystery 
surrounded the birth of this child, but that it 
was not my business to seek to penetrate it by 
asking for explanations. I thought even that 
you were in accord with the action of the au- 
thorities, and I accepted the task which was 
offered me, without uneasiness as to its proba- 
ble consequences. I belong to the police and 
obey the orders I receive. I was guilty but I 
was less so than you thought. I have served 
the interests of your enemies, but the excuse 
for my conduct is wholly due to my ignorance 
of the facts which resulted from it." 

Detective Frepont was delighted. 

" Well, haven't I guessed riglit about this 
intrigue? " said he. '• Hasn't everything turned 
out just as I supposed? This woman who is at 
your kuees, madam, lias committed an abomi- 
nable action, but she acted by order as a police 
employee, without knowing the hand which 
directed the deed, and it is not upon her that 
your hate should rest." 

The professional instinct again came up in 



192 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUAKT. 

Fre'pont and he pleaded his own case in plead- 
ing that of Miss Masson. Lady Stuart scarcely 
heard him, however. 

" You have taken my son to A. near Nancy," 
said she: "and I shall again see him there?" 

Martha Masson in affright at her new re- 
sponsibilities, corrected the Countess Ellen : 

"It is at A , yes madam, that you should see 
him again, if events with which I have nothing 
to do, have not again changed liis destiny." 

Lady Stuart turned frightfully pale. 

"This girl arouses all my fears," she groaned. 
"To-morrow I shall leave for Nancy." 

Then addressing the detective, she added: 

"As for you, Frepont, you will remain here 
until my return, and will not allow Miss 
Masson to communicate with any one whomso- 
ever during my absence." 

"'J'lien, madam," protested the young woman, 
" I sliall still remain your prisoner in spite of 
my confession, and this is all the reward I shall 
receive for my frankness." 

"Until I find my son again, you will remain 
in my power, yes," said Lady Stuart. "As for 



NAPOLEON 111. AND LADY STL'AKT. 193 

vour frankness and the reward which jou ouglit 
to have for it, do nut let us speak of it if you 
please." 

As the young girl looked at the detective 
with an air of grief she could not conceal, 
Frepont extended his arras to heaven, and con- 
soled her with this phrase : 

"All is not rose-colored in the profession." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Two days after the dramatic scene which 
took place between Miss Masson and Lady 
Stuart, the latter armed with the directions 
furnished to her, arrived at A., a village in the 
suburbs of Nancy, and knocked at the door of 
a neat looking cottage, standing a little apart 
from the other dwellings and which it was easy 
to recognize without awakening the curiosity 
of the peasants by imprudent questions. 

A woman twenty five years of age came 
and opened tlic door to her. Lady Stuart was 
13 



194 NAPOLEON HI. AND LADY STUAllT. 

very much agitated at this supreme momeut of 
lier life, but she suppressed her emotion, and it 
was in a very calm voice that she addressed 
the woman who presented herself. 

"Madam Bernier?" she asked. 

" I am she," responded the woman. 

" I wish to speak with you," 

Tlie puzzled and distrustful peasant woman, 
surprised at receiving an unexpected visit from 
so imposing a person as Ladj^ Stuart did not 
move, and began to ask questions in her turn. 

" You want to speak to me ? You have 
made a mistake, perhaps, madam?" 

Lady Stuart whose impatience was increas- 
ing, assumed an authoritative air. 

" I want to speak with you and I have made 
no mistake," she declared dryly, "since you tell 
me you are Madam Bernier." 

The woman then politely moved out of her 
way. 

" Come in then, madam, and excuse me for 
having received you like that," pointing to her 
housekeeper's dress. 

The peasant woman was pretty and the 



NAl'OLi:uN 111. AND LADY STUAKT. 195 

Countess deemed it wise to pay her a compli- 
ment to conciliate her. 

" You look very nice as you are, my child," 
she said smiling, while she looked from right to 
left in the room to which she had been shown : 
*' a pretty girl like you does not require orna- 
ments." 

After a short silence, realizing that she must 
explain the reason for her visit she continued : 
"Here is what brings me to your house. 
You are married and a nurse. In a few 
months, I shall become a mother, and must find 
some one living at a long distance from Paris, 
where I live, to take care of my child. A lady, 
H friend of mine who knows you has given me 
your name. I want to know if T can count 
on you when the time comes for having a 
nurse." 

The peasant who was conciliated by the pros- 
pect of making a profit, replied naively '. 

" Your friend— can it be that lady who left a 
child with us, some time ago? " 

" Exactly," said Lady Stuart, " it is the same 
lady." 



196 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

The woman commenced to laugh. 

" Ah well, I must say she does not give lis 
mucli trouble. We haven't seen her since tlie 
day she brought us the child." 

The Countess thought she could give a good 
reason for the absence of her supposed friend. 

" This lad}-," said she, " has ver}' grave rea- 
sons which prevent her from visiting her child 
as she would desire, but she hears of him from 
sources of which you know nothing." 

The peasant made a gesture of indifference. 

"That is what people are always telling me. 
There must be some story about the birth of 
my foster-child. But as tliese things don't con- 
cern me and as the child's board has been 
paid in advance, higher paid even than it is 
worth, I have never bothered myself about the 
rest. When your friend wants her child back, 
she will only have to come back here for him. 
She will find him in good health, I can tell you. 
It will give me real sorrow to separate from 
him, for I love him well aside from what he is 
worth to me ; but what of that, he does not be- 
long to me." 



NAi'OI>l'X)N III. AND LADY STUART. 197 

Lady Stuart let the wonuiii talk and when 
she was silent, renewed her (^[uestion : 

" Well, nurse, would j^ou like nie to give you 
my child too ? " 

" Certainly, madam : we are not rich: and 
ask nothing more than to be able to gain our 
living." 

At this moment, a man about thirty years of 
age entered the cottage, dressed in w^orking- 
clothes, as if just come from the fields. He 
stopped bashfully when he saw Lady Stuart 
and muttered an embarrassed good-day. 

The peasant woman introduced him : 

" It is my husband." 

Then speaking to the young man as she 
pointed out the Countess : 

" Madam has come," she added, " to make 
arrangements for another foster-child after this 
one that I have." 

" Much obliged, madam," said Bernier. 

And in reply to his wife : 

" Will not this fatigue you too much," lie 
asked affectionately, ''to rear two infants like 
that one after the other ? " 



198 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

The peasant woman laughed heartily. 

" If that is all that worries you, don't be un^ 
easy — I am not a Parisian, am I ? " 

This last sentence was uttered without the- 
least idea of any reflection. She immediately 
regretted it as a taunt directed against her 
visitor. 

" Oh, pardon me, madam," she said blushing 
and confused, " I do not mean that for you." 

Lady Stuart affected gaiet}^ and seemed to 
approve the remark. 

" You do not vex me my child, and I think 
you are right: Parisian women are bad nurses." 

All these words, the prelude to the coming 
scene — made the Countess impatient. She de- 
cided to come to the object of her journey. 

" We are agreed," she continued : "you will 
bring up my child and you will be well re- 
warded for the care you give it. I am now 
going away and will not return for some 
months. But I liave a commission to execute 
at your house before I go away. My friend 
told me to kiss her little boy. Would you 
bring him here?" 



NAPULEON HI. AND LADY yiUAKT. 199 

The peasant made no objection to this re- 
quest which seemed to her quite natural. 

" I will go and fetch hiin, madam," she de- 
clared. 

She added : " but he is asleep and when he 
is suddenly awakened like that he is not very 
good." 

As she said this she disappeared in an adjoin 
ing room to the one in which Lady Stuart was, 
and soon came out holding in her arms a pretty 
little boy in a bad temper at having been dis- 
turbed from his sleep, crying and gesticulating 
with all the power of his two clenched fists. 

The child was truly beautiful and Ladj^ 
Stuart thought she would faint when she saw 
him. This child, this beautiful little being 
who was innocently giving vent to his rage in 
her ])resence was her son — her son whom she 
had recovered at last after having feared that 
she would be separated from hira forever — her 
son for whom she had wept, for whom she had 
suffered and for whom she thought she would 
have died. 

By a spontaneous instinctive movement. 



lIOO NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

which would have appeared suspicious to an 
observer, she rushed up to the nurse and ahnost 
snatched him out of her arms. And then, 
without kissing him, she looked hard at liim 
for a long time. But the child that she pressed 
to her bosom, did not resemble the one that liad 
been stolen from her. Some months liad passed 
since lie had been taken away, and his features 
were modified: the vague outlines of his face 
had disappeared, and had been replaced by 
others which in their turn were destined to be 
effaced. Lady Stuart no longer recognized her 
son, and an acute sorrow, a terrible fear, 
assailed her. Could Detective Frcpont have 
been mistaken : if the Masson girl, although 
perfectly sincere in her confession, had told the 
tale of an abduction precisely similar to the 
one of which she had been the victim, but had 
nothing to do with her sorrow : if, in a word, 
the child which she pressed to her bosom, was 
not her son, but the son of another woman, 
robbed like her, and like her in an eternal 
mourning? 

Lady Stuart in the chaos of her mind was 



NAroLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 201 

nearly read}- to faint, t(j die there in the liouse 
in whicli slie liad hoped to experience so mnch 
joy, and she became frightfnlly pale. Her de- 
jection was too apparent to escape the notice 
of the nurse. In fact she remarked it : but in 
hi'i innocence of mind attributed it to the emo- 
tion caused by her approaching maternity which 
the young lad}' had announced to her. 

" If holding the child of your friend affects 
you so much, madam," she said, "how will it 
be when you have one of your own?" 

Did Lady Stuart hear the peasant's words? 
Ndt at the moment. But later she recalled 
them, as we recall the slightest circumstance 
which has determined a crisis in our existence, 
and to which, at the time of its taking place, we 
paid no attention. At the moment that the 
words were pronounced, they only reached her 
ears as an empty sound without meaning. But 
this sound recalled her to the reality of her 
situation. Suddenly abandoning all painful 
thought, as though moved by a specific recol- 
lection, she uncovered his right ear and having 
examined it as if she were out of her mind, she 



202 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

had only time to give him back to the nurse 
when witli a loud scream she fell fainting on 
the tiled floor. 

The man and the woman who witnessed this 
scene, and who did not understand it. hastened 
to the Countess and busied themselves in re- 
storing her. " Poor lady," said the nurse. 
Then she added : " here is a woman who will 
make a good mother." 

The man seemed to reflect : " Mj- opinion is 
that all this is dubious. People are not taken 
ill because they kiss a friend's child." 

At this moment Lad}' Stuart recovering from 
lier swoon opened her eyes, and tlie woman 
signed to her husband to be silent. Both of 
them hung over the sick woman and waited for 
her to speak. But as she remained silent, and 
her glance wandered, the nurse tried to make 
her speak, thinking that this remark would 
bring her to her senses. 

" Well, madam," said she, " are you feeling 
better ? " 

Lady Stuart then uttered the word for which 
she had hoped, but its effect was terrible. 



NAPOLKON 111. AND LADY STUAKT. 203 

-My child— " she muniiured, " I want my 
child." 

The peasants drew back fiightened. 

"■ Her child," stammered the woman, " she 
said ' my child I ' "' 

" Yon see," replied Bernier, " that I was 
right. There is something queer here." 

Lady Stuart who was now seated on an arm- 
chair with a bottom of plaited straw, and who 
had somewhat recovered her self-possesion, 
heard this last sentence. 

"There is something queer, indeed," said 
she: "but there is also one truth which you 
ought to know: T am the mother of the child 
in your charge, and I am come to claim him 
from you." 

Bernier then came forward and spoke firmly : 
'• Madam, we don't know you. You came to 
us under the pretence of securing a nurse for a 
child, whom you are about to bring into the 
world, and then all of a sudden, you tell us an- 
other story, and declare that you are the mother 
of the child who has been entrusted tons. You 
must know, with all the respect that I owe you. 



204 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

that we are not going to give up the child to 
you like this, without having the proof of what 
you assert." 

" My friend, you shall have this proof. The 
child you are bringing up is my son. He was 
stolen from the people who had charge of him 
as you have, and when you showed him to me, 
I could not recognize him, I did not recognize 
him. I even doubted for a moment tliat he be- 
longed to me. But I remembered that m}' lit- 
tle boy, whose name is Jack--" 

"Ldon," corrected the man. 

" Whom you call L^on," continued the 
Countess, " bore behind his right ear, a scar or 
birth-mark. This mark, your foster-child bears 
too, and tins is what makes me certain that the 
child is mine." 

The peasant was embarrassed : but he did 
not lose mistrust. 

" Excuse me, madam," he replied, " if, while 
I fully believe that you are telling the truth, I 
may appear nut to place faith on your words. 
You know that your claim must be supported 
by authentic proofs in order that justice may 



NAl'OLEUN III. AND LADY STUAUT. 205 

be (lone. Until you procure us these proofs we 
will nut give up the child." 

" You iire doing lightly, my friend, and if 
those to whom I formerly entrusted my son had 
done like you, 1 should not have lost my son. 
You shall have the proofs you require, I repeat, 
l)uL meantime, while we are waiting for them, 
I shall not separate myself from the child." 

liernier did not abate a jot of his suspicions, 
but the attitude of Lady Stuait impressed him, 
and he vaguely comprehended that the myster}'^ 
which confronted him suddenly, lequired that 
he should be prudent in deeds and words. He 
smiled at the obstinacy of the Countess. 

" Be it so madam," he concluded. " We have 
not a large place here but we will give you the 
best accommodation we can." 

Then in answer to the young lady's questions 
regarding the details of Jack's being brought to 
them, he told some facts which interested her. 
One day a lady brought the child, saying his 
name was Leon, and left without giving the 
name of his family. This lad}- gave him an ad- 
dress in Paris to which he could write if there 



206 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

were occasion for it. But as he had sent two 
or tliree letters to this address and had received 
no reply, he did not know in face of the revela- 
tions made to him, whether they had been lost. 
As he had been paid a large sum of money, for 
the child's board, with the promise of more 
when it was weaned, he thought it useless to 
bother himself, and concluded that if there was 
a secret connected with the child's birth, it was 
forbidden him to attempt to solve it. 

Lady Stuart could not refrain from tears as 
she listened to Bernier. So her son, her dear 
little Jack had been given up to good people no 
doubt, but to people who in time would have 
been unable to keep him, if the civil status 
of the child was demanded of them, or the pay- 
ments which were an object to them ceased, 
which it was easy to suppose. So her son had 
been launched on the sea of life, like a plank 
cast overboard from a ship, floating on a cruel 
and greedy ocean. 

" I will reward you," said she to Bernier, 
" for the care you have taken of my son, and 
you will not regret the trouble I am now giv- 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 207 

iiig you. I bless heaven that lie fell into your 
hands. You are good people, but I shudder 
when I think that those who stole him, if they 
had willed it. could have caused him to dis- 
appear forever." 



CHAPTER XIX. 

The same day Lady Stuart, impatient to re- 
gain her son, wrote to the Emperor, and her 
letter, which was short and to the point, was 
like an involuntary cry of triumph and re- 
venge. 

"Sire," said she, "I am at A., near Nancy, 
at the house of two peasants, husband and 
wife, the Berniers. At their house I have 
found the child of Avhom I was robbed. But 
they refuse to give him up to me withfiut 
proofs of my rights. I do not desire to make 
this proof legally, unless I am compelled to do 
so. I beseech your Majesty then to give 
orders for the immediate restoration of my son 
to ine. 



208 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

Having traced these lines, she asked Bemier 
to take the sealed missive to the post. The 
peasant, when he read the address, " To His 
Majesty the Emperor, at the Palace of the 
Tuileries," experienced a shock similar to that 
of a person suddenly awakened from sleep, and 
he began to regard Lady Stuart with less sus- 
picion. 

Wheii the letter written by Ladj^ Stuart 
reached the Tuileries the Emperor was away. 
As it was addressed personally to the Em- 
peror, the chief of the cabinet and private sec- 
retary of Napoleon HI., when they sorted the 
mail, placed it with several other envelopes on 
the desk of the sovereign. It was not until 
after some delay that the Emperor read it ; and 
while he was sincerely pleased to hear that his 
mistress had at last succeeded in her search, he 
was also glad that the affair had ended with- 
out scandal. He telegraphed to the Prefect at 
Nancy ordering him to communicate with the 
young woman, and to respect all her wishes. 
Although he had attempted formerly after the 
occurrence at La Verriere to deny the accusa- 



NATOMCON III. AND I.ADV STTAllT. 209 

tidiis wliicli Lady Stuart broiiglil against the 
Kiii[Hess, a doubt as to the Empress' part in 
tlie abduction of the child had reinaiued in the 
mind of the Emperor. After a violent scene 
with his wife this ddiibt was not dispelled, and 
Xapoleon III., who was worried by it, still 
wished to have it dissipated. It would have 
been a pleasant feeling to be perfectly certain 
that the Empress had had nothing to do with 
such a heinous action, and as he now had an 
opportunity for making further investigations, 
he decided to profit by it. 

Armed with the Countess Ellen's letter, he 
went to the Empress and had a conversation 
with her in which he hoped that his suspicions 
would be dispelled. 

She was in her room when the Emperor ap- 
peared before her. 

" I am about to do violence to your feelings 
by speaking to you of a person whom you do 
not like. But pardon me. An event of such 
importance has just happened, in connection 
with this person that I am compelled to com- 
municate it to you." 
14 



210 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

The Empress, nggressive and suspicious, re- 
frained from a sudden fit of passion. 

" It is doubtless Lady Stnai t of whom you 
are again speaking?" 

The Emperor, without making a direct re- 
ply to this sentence and to avoid recrimina- 
tions, answered : 

"You remember that Lady Stuart suffered a 
dreadful misfortune by her child being stolen 
from her ! Well, this child has been found : 
and as the people would not give it up to her, 
I have ordered the Prefect at Nancy, where 
she is now residing, to support her in her 
claims." 

The Empress trembled slightly, but her face, 
habitually painted to hide the freckles with 
which it was covered, gave no clue to the state 
of her mind. She was silent for some mo- 
ments, and then replied in an a-pparently in- 
different and sarcastic tone : 

'' Truly, it is so much the better that the 
child should be restored to its mother. With 
you T rejoice at the news, if it in any way gives 
you satisfaction." 



N A POL HON 111. AND LADV STUAKT. 211 

Tlie Emperor mulerstood the hostilit}- wliich 
was concealed in her last words. 

"This news gives me satisfaction for two 
reasons," lie retnrned. " First of all, because a 
crime liaving been committed, it will not have 
the expected results: then, because y<»ur name 
was mixed up with the matter — of which you 
are aware — and there will be no furtlier occa- 
sion for its being mentioned." 

The Empress who was engaged in .-irranging 
some trinkets, turned to Napoleon III. and be- 
came violent. 

" I do remember,'" she scolded in her harsh 
voice, '• that you formerly insulted me by ques- 
tioning me on the subject of the abduction of 
Lady Stuart's son. It a])peared then that peo- 
ple dared to accuse me of taking some part in 
this plot: I am delighted and giieved at that 
accusation: I am delighted at it because I am 
glad that I should be thought capable of hating 
my enemies, even to an exaggerated extent : I 
am grieved at it because, — because as a matter 
of fact I am in no sense deserving of tlie plot- 
ting capacities with which I am credited." 



212 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

The Emperor assumed an air of seYerit3\ 

" Irony is out of place liere : you sliould 
know tliat a scandal connected with your name, 
injures me more personally than it does you." 

The Empress burst out : 

" A scandal — you are to blame for the scandal 
that Lady Stuart provoked by her presence at 
the Tuileries, in according her outrageous priv- 
ileges which I disdain even to mention I Ti uly, 
I ask myself if it can be you speaking. Yes, 
a scandal was caused by the act of this woman 
— a scandal was caused b}^ the act of a man 
who had compromised himself with her — do 
you understand me or must I speak more 
plainly ? " 

" r understand you," replied the Emperor, 
" and I beg of you not to renew a scene be- 
tween us which has been repeated so often al- 
ready and which has nothing but jealousy for 
its excuse. You hate Lady Stuart as you have 
hated all the women who have been my mis- 
tresses — be it so. I should have thought, how- 
ever, that her sorrow would have touched vou 
and that you would have felt some disinterested 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUAIIT, 213 

pleasure, some hiunau joy in hearing of her 
mother's heart being comforted. I was mis- 
taken. Pardon me for intruding upon your 
tranquillit}-.'" 

Tims speaking, the Emperor left the room of 
his wife. 

This short interview, which Napoleon III. 
Liter related to his mistress, was nearly similar 
to all those to which the sovereign had to sub- 
mit from the Empress during his reign, with 
regard to his feminine relations true or imagin- 
ary. The Emperor habitually- saved himself by 
flight from these conjugal quarrels, and this 
evening he did not wait for the Empress to fall 
into hysterics or to vent her rage by smashing 
various objects of furniture. He left her and 
returned to his apartments, bowed under a 
poignant grief; for the doubt that lie had 
against his wife still remained after his discus- 
sion witli her, as entire, deep and profound as 
before this discussion. 

Few people certainly have ever thought of 
the Empress Eugenie in the light that she is rep- 
resented here, at one time screaming at the top 



214 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

of her voice, or smashing in her fury anything 
which happened to be near her, when suffering 
from one of her insane attacks of passion. 

Tliis aspect is unfortunately but too true. If 
it is necessary to give an anecdote to prove the 
truth of the assertion, it will suffice to recall 
the scene which took place between her and 
Marshal Niel, when the illustrious soldier as 
Minister of War was activel}' eng.iged in the 
reorganization of the army. 

It is well-known that at this time the Em- 
peror Napoleon III. summoned, in a special 
council, the Marshals as well as the principal 
dignitaries of tlie Court, tA consult them as to 
the chance of a war against Prussia and her 
allies. The Emperor felt that this war was in- 
evitable, and desired that it should then be 
declared in place of allowing Prussia to 
strengthen herself, and to wage successful war 
against France at some future period. 

But after a careful examination of our arma- 
ment, it was acknowledged that we were not 
ready to undertake a perilous campaign, and it 
was resolved to increase the effective of the 



NATOLEON HI. AND LADY STUAUT. 215 

annv, so that it niiglit cope 'without too much 
risk, with the Prussian forces. 

The Empress vehemently desired immediate 
action, and as she did in 1870, when she was in- 
formed that war coukl not be declared she had 
a terrible fit of passion in which she abused all 
who (lid not agree with her. People tlien lived 
at the Tuileries in a constant whirl of excite- 
ment and irritation. And one afternoon when 
Marshal Niel in company with the Emperor, ex- 
plained to the Empress the reasons which had 
determined him to give up for the time tlie idea 
of an une([ual strife, she in defiance of all eti- 
quette and all reserve, behaved with great vio- 
lence. Having exhausted her arguments, she 
seized an inkstand from the Emperor's desk 
and hurled it at the Marshal. The soldier who 
was struck on the body and covered with enor- 
mons black stains, simply bowed and retired. 
There was a terrible scene after his departure 
between the Emperor and his wUe : but this 
quarrel no more than those which had preceded 
it, or those wliich were to follow it. had any ef- 
fect in changing the character of the Empress. 



216 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

This stoiy cannot be denied. It was related 
by the wife of the Marslial, who is still living, 
to one of her friends. Mai'shal Niel alone 
could have contradicted it, but in his profound 
loyalt}^ he would not have done so. 

The Empress passed a week of sullenness 
after the discussion which she had had with 
her husband, but more in consequence of the 
rage which she felt at the news that lier venge- 
ance which she thought absolute and irremedi- 
able had been frustrated. But as she quicldy 
reconciled herself to events good or bad which 
concerned her, and as her mind was incapable 
of dwelling for an}' length of time on any point 
no matter how important, slie rapidly recovered 
her gaiety and carelessness, and she seemed to 
h;ive forgotten the drama which had worried 
h(>r for a time. 

Tliere was a reign of insane folly and un- 
bridled dissipation at the Tuileries at that 
time : and in the excitement of the pleasures 
which the courtiers enjoyed, it was very diffi- 
cult for the sovereign as well as for her inti- 
mate friends to dwell upon sorrowful subjects. 



NAI'OLKON III. AND LADY STUART. 217 

It was this exlreiue lolly, this uiibridled license 
selfishly t'blivious of every other consideration, 
but the [)eisonul gratification of the hour, 
luurying ahjng in its magical and formidable 
whirl[)Ool all that interfered with their volup- 
tuous programme, that they demanded. Laugh- 
ter and kisses were on all lips and in all hou- 
doim. It was in the nervous excitement of 
men's brains and the senses of men in the at- 
tention which they gave to it, that none per- 
ceived that in the imperial sky, till then serene, 
clouds were gathering fraught with threatening 
lightnings, driven along by a violent tempest, 
accompanied by pro[)hetic growlings. The 
year 1869 died away in a sort of unacknowl- 
edged convulsion and with it the Empire or 
rather the clan of courtiers who were incarn- 
ated with it were joyously dying away with it. 
Everything at this time, in the streets of Paris, 
in the Provinces and abroad should have im- 
posed silence on the laughing crowds. But 
their joyful egoism was on too steep an incline 
to allow of its return, and all men and women 
were hurrying to the abvss with the frightful 



218 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

but superb intoxication of demigods, who do 
not realize that their cult is a thing of the past. 
The courtiers of the Second Empire were niar- 
vellous voluptuaries, who can, not unreason- 
ably be compared with the ancient patviciaiis, 
who loved to die amid the sleepy perfume of 
roses and in the exhausting fever of their 
amours. 



CHAPTER XX. 

It was during this time of cynical intoxica- 
tion, of this unacknowledged alarm that Lady 
Stuart returned to Paris with her son. 

Detective Frepont was there faithful to his 
trust, and with some difficult}^ maintaining 
control of Miss Masson. As soon as she saw 
Lady Stuart the young woman thought that 
her captivity was over and made a joyful move- 
ment. But she did not allow for the hatred of 
the woman she had made to suffer, and at the 
first words slie addressed to her she was cruelly 
undeceived. 



NAJ'OLEON 111. AND LADY STUAKT. 219 

" I bring back my son,"' said Lady Stuart to 
her, ''not owing to your kindness or your con- 
fession, but owing to the fear (^f the reprisals, 
which 3'ou deserved. The other day in my 
grief I would have tortured you with pleasure ; 
to-day in my happiness I will not do you any 
harm, but I ask myself if I ought, as you wish, 
to set you free, to let you out of my house 
without having suffered some expiation. What 
sliall I do with you? What punishment shall I 
impose? I don't know. But, meantime, I have 
come to a resolution concerning you, — I shall 
keep you, you belong to me." 

This speech filled the mind of tlie young girl 
with fear. Despairing of obtaining any hope 
of deliverance from Lady Stuart, she turned 
to Detective Frepront to beg him to intercede 
for her in regard to her fate. 

'' You are imprisoning me," she declared, 
'' for which, later, you will have to account to 
the Courts. What is wanted of me? Whether 
voluntarily or by force I have aided in the 
recovery of the child. Henceforth I liave 
nothinor more to do with the mother. Wliat 



220 NAPOLEON 111. AND LADY STUART. 

do these enigmatical words mean that she has 
littered? She is not going to kill me I suj^ipose.'* 

Frt'pont patted her shoulder good-naturedly. 
" Lad}' Stuart has not revealed her plans to 
me," he said, " but I think I can affirm that she 
will not embarrass herself with you for very 
long. Be patient then : it is best : as to legal 
proceedings, give up the idea at once ; that will 
be better still." 

" If I tell, however, people would be obliged 
to listen to me." 

" No, my girl, no, they would not listen to 
you." 

" And why, if you please ? " 

The detective began to laugh. 

''You ask why? Truly you ought to know 
the profession better. Don't you know that 
we ought never to ' tell,' because in doing so 
we would often compromise personages who do 
not allow themselves to be compromised. And 
then " 

"And then? " 

" There are corks for whistles which make 
too much noise." 



NAPOLKON lir. AND LADY STUART. 2-21 

Maitlui Massoii tremblod. This vulvar 
phrase brought up before her eyes a mysterious 
force, against which the imprudent or tiie dar- 
ing would be crushed, and always fatally. 

She made no reply, bent her head and a[;- 
pcared to accept the resignation which she 
was advised to do. 

The morning after her retnrn to Paris, Lady 
Stuart sent a few hasty lines to the Emperor to 
thank him for his intervention, and to give him 
an account of what had happened. 

Xapoleon III. soon sent 'SI. llyrvoix to her 
in order to hold a conversation with her and 
know her intentions for the future, and lier at- 
titude henceforth as regards the Tuileries. 

But all the finesse of the police agent was 
ftjiled by the reticence of Lad}- Stuart. She 
received liiui graciously but told him ndthing. 
He was forced to retire witliout having been 
able to elicit a word from her, relative to the 
mission with which he was charged. The 
Countess simplj' expressed to him her absolute 
determination not to confide in any one but the 
Emperor, and M. Hyrvoix in [)lace of bearing to 



222 NAPOLEON II[. AND LADY STUAKT. 

his master a conclusive answer, was the bearer 
only to him of a request from the young lady 
for an interview. 

In spite of the many preoccupations which 
engaged the Emperor at that time ; in spite of 
the uneasinesses which disquieted him, Lady 
Stuart always occupied his thoughts, and he 
was obliged to confess that the passion with 
which she had inspired in him was not dead. 

As mucli tlien, with the hope of averting 
another scandal, as to see his mistress again, he 
yielded to her request. 

When he again saw the women whom he had 
loved so profoundly, and with whom he had 
spent so many rapturous hours, the Emperor 
forgot the events which had estranged her from 
him and was really move 1. 

He seized her hands, kissed her tenderly, and 
remained silent for a moment in the close em- 
brace by which his caress was returned. The 
Countess was as much moved as was the Em- 
peror, and she smiled at the expression of his 
attachment, as one smiles at something dear of 
which one has been deprived for a long time 



NArOLEON III. AM) LADY STUART. 'i'JS 

and lias had no hope of ever again enjoying. 
Notwithstanding this exchange of caresses, the 
Emperor desired to know the details of the ad- 
venture, which had resulted so happily for the 
young woman, and she gave him an account of 
what she had undergone, without omitting a 
single detail. 

While she was speaking the Emperor was 
thoughtful, as if buried in deep reflections, and 
only roused himself from his preoccupation to 
raise his hands to heaven, with a gesture, which 
at this moment perhaps signified many things 
which he could not reveal. 

" I rejoiced with you," he said to her at 
last, " at the favorable result of your search. 
You have your son now : never leave him 
again.'' 

Lady Stuart looked fixedly at her imperial 
visitor. Suddenly she asked him : 

" Well, sire, do you think now that you know 
the whole story of the abduction, that I was 
wrong when I affirmed to you " 

Napoleon guessed what she was about to say 
and interrupted her. 



224 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

" You have recovered your haiipiiiess. Do 
not accuse any one any more." 

" Since you elude my question, sire, T will 
not repeat it: but in eluding a question do we 
not recognize the truth of it, — do we not 
acknowledge its legitimacy? " 

" In pity, madam, do not torture me, and 
speak no more to me of this intrigue. The 
Empress, do not forget it, ought not to have 
been mixed up with the La Verriere plot. As 
to my personal feeling about all these matters, 
I do not wish to conceal it : there are people at 
the Tuileries who serve me badly in their de- 
sire to be agreeable to the Empress. Every 
day I notice around me compromising circum- 
stances, which cause me uneasiness, and which 
tlirow discredit on my name and authority. 
We no longer live in a period when the resi- 
dence of a monarch is exempt from public gaze. 
The liberty which I have given to the Press 
takes advantage of the curiosity of the public 
and it is hostile to me. How is it that those 
who pretend to love me do not understand that 
they are playing the game of nn- worst enemies, 



XVroLEON III. AND LADY STUART, 225 

when they give their support and countenance 
to scandii!, no matter from what source, what- 
ever the hand which directs it, whatever the 
caprice which allows it ? " 

The Countess listened to the Emperor at- 
tentively, and heard his complaints with 
astonishment. 

" One word from you, sire, would be suf- 
ficient to put a stop to this anarchy at the 
Tuileries." 

Napoleon III. as he walked up to the young 
woman replied : 

"One word from me: do you think, madam 
that a Avord from me would have weight with 
the coteries, which are formed and which disturb 
the Chateau ? You are mistaken. I have 
spoken this word and have repeated it, but it 
was not listened to. Ah ! there are times when 
I am tempted to admit — a thing, however, 
which seems to me impossible — where I am 
tempted to admit tliat not one of those around 
me, really loves me : that none of those who 
bow before me, fear me : tliat none of those 
whom T support like parasites — has any care 
15 



226 NAPOLKON III. AND LADY STUATlT. 

for my happiness, for the future of my dynasty. 
All these men and women who sliare the pleas- 
ure which I procure for them, I begin to be- 
lieve look upon me only as the caterer to their 
pleasures, and justify their egoism, by what 
they call — I have it on good authority -my 
dream." 

The Emperor was again silent : tlien he went 
on with a louder voice than usual : 

" They are fools — they are fools — the}' are 
perhaps miserable creatures — they rely too mucii 
upon my kindness. But let tliem beware the 
day will come when I will make tliem return 
to their duty — or I will banisli tliem — " 

Lady Stuart was far from expecting this 
scene, in which the sovereign appeared as if in 
spite of himself to pour out the full extent of 
his bitterness, to show that he was not blind to 
the eccentricities, and the responsibilities, which 
the frequenters of the Tuileries were accumula- 
ting under the protection of his name. 

She could not restrain an exclamation : 

"Is it true, sire, that this heart-rending pic- 
ture which you draw ofyoui' house is correct? 



NAl'<)l.i:()N 111. AND I.AIA' STUAUl'. 227 

Is it true that your gooduess has only had the 
result of causing to spring up around you, self- 
ishness and hypocrisy ? " 

'•That is true, madam. However, I ought 
not to be unjust in the sorrow whieh I am suf- 
fering. I am loved at the Tuileries by Lepic 
and two or three other brave hearts, who do 
not enjoy the better part of the pleasures 
at the Chateau. I am also loved — you will 
hiugh, madam — by my servants, and I mean by 
servants — the personal attendants at the 
Palace. Apart from these. I am surrounded by 
falsities and interested baseness." 

And the Emperor wore an air of unspeakable 
discouragement, sadness and disgust : 

'• Ah ! madam, if you knew ! " 

Then he added : 

" When evil days come, then you will see 
them all — these courtiers wlio are dependent on 
my life, disperse and forget me." 

The young woman endeavored to dis[)el the 
melancholy of the sovereign, but he com- 
manded silence with a gesture, and concluded : 

" I ask your pardon — I am worrying you, 



228 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

and am allowing myself to be carried away in 
your presence, because I know that you are my 
friend, to talk of things aloud, regarding which 
I ought, perhaps, to be silent. Let us nc^t 
speak an}^ more of these things, and let me 
know rather what you now propose to do ? " 

Lady Stuart smiled. 

" M. Hyrvoix has already asked me that 
question, sire, and I refused to answer him. 
From you, I will not conceal that it is my in- 
tention to continue to live in Paris, and not to 
live the life of a recluse any longer. I love 
society and since the Tuileries are closed to me, 
I hope to create distractions for myself else- 
where." 

The Emperor caressed his moustache. 

"I understand your desire. You can no 
longer content yourself with a life of isolation. 
But the world is dangerous for those who have 
a history. Be prudent, madam." 

"■The world is dangerous and wicked only 
for those who wish it to rule them. I will take 
much from it, sire, but be assured that I will 
give it nothing." 



NAl'OLKoX UI. AND LADY STUAKT. 229 

Napoleon III. came and seated himself beside 
tlie Countess. 

"And I, what sliall I be to you in all tliis?" 
he murmured with the charming timidity which 
was customary with him when with women 
for whom he entertained a serious passion : you 
too will forget me, and will swell the number 
of those who are indifferent to me." 

Tlie young woman said caressingly: 

" You, sire, will be for me to-morrow what 
you were yesterday, before our cruel separation: 
I shall not forget you in my ha[>piness, since I 
remembered you in my grief." 

A kiss fell on Lady Stuart's hand and was 
followed by a murmuring. 

The Emperor, again conquered by the beauty 
^f his mistress, allowed himself to be carried 
away b}' her seductive arts, and she herself was 
triumphant for she had feared that henceforth 
her charms might be powerless over the 
sovereign, whereas she now felt herself a gainer 
by this illusion of a love, which, in the real 
sense of tlie word, she had never felt. This 
evening brought her the first minutes of 



230 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

true happiness, that she had tasted since tlie 
tragic events which had plunged her in mourn- 
ing. 

When the sovereign was about to leave her, 
he seemed suddenly anxious, and referring to 
the story she had told him of the abduction, he 
said to her : 

" You must not keep as a prisoner any longer 
the young woman of whom you spoke to me, 
who was an accomplice in the al)duction of 
your son. Let her return home. I assure you 
that you will have nothing to fear from lier 
henceforth." 

At the mention of the name of Miss Masson, 
Lady Stuart made an angry movement. 

" Sire, you ask from me the sacrifice of my 
hate." 

" Make this sacrifice for me." 

" Granted. One cannot refuse a favor to 
one who grants so many. To-morrow the girl 
shall be free." 

The Emperor thanked his mistress for her 
obedience to his wish : tlien he left the hotel 
followed at a distance by the detectives who 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 231 

guarded his nocturnal promenade and who had 
calmly paced the sidewalk while they awaited 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE MURDER OF MARTHA MASSON. 

Some days after the Emperor's visit to Lady 
Stuart, the detective Fr(?pont called on the 
young lady, in much emotion. 

" Well, my good Frepont, what has happened? 
You look upset." 

The detective with an impressive gesture, 
replied : 

" Ah ! madam, I should tliink T am upset ! A 
thing has just happened — an extraordinary 
thing." 

Lady Stuart gave a short, dry laugh. 

'' Come, tell me this thing, Frepont. But 
after what has happened to me, I doubt if I 
shall be astonished no matter how extraordin- 
ary it may be." 



232 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUAKT. 

The detective replied : 

" It concerns Martha Masson, madam." 

" Martha Masson ? This girl does not inter- 
est me any more." 

"You will be interested, madam." 

" What do you mean ?" 

"She is dead!" 

Lady Stuart started. 

" She is dead !" 

" It is just as I have the honor to announce 
to 3'ou. Her body was found in the Seine this 
morning, near Neuilly." 

The young woman looked at the detective. 

" Heaven has punished her crime. I do not 
pity her, I can't pity lier : she did me too much 
harm." 

Then bethinking herself: 

" But you are tliinking a lot of things which 
you dare not confess to me — I believe you think 
that it is I who have caused the assassination of 
this girl to avenge myself?" 

The detective shook his head negatively, and 
lowering his voice : 

" I know, madam, that you had no hand in 



NAl'OLEON in. AND LADY STUART. 233 

the death of Martha Massoii ; but on the otlier 
hand, I know tlie story of her suicide, for tlie 
newspapers will tell you that Martha Masson 
was killed." 

Lady Stuart who was puzzled, motioned the 
detective to a seat. 

^ You were right, Frepont, you have interested 
me. Sit down there and tell me the story." 

The detective seated himself facing the young 
woman, and began his tale. 

"I thought nothing, madam, when the other 
day you told me all of a sudden, that you had 
given up the idea of reprisals against Martha 
Masson. But I recalled the serious accusation 
that you had formerly brought against a certain 
high personage, on whose instigation this girl 
acted, according to you, and I thought that if 
this accusation was really founded, the dis- 
covery of the child would be followed by some 
Incident. Miss Masson unmasked by you, 
living and free, although she had only an im- 
perfect knowledge of the secret of the drama, 
in which she had played a part, was dangerous 
for those who had employed her. If she ever 



234 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

made up her mind to talk, how would it be 
possible to silence her ? She held in her hands 
a scandal which might be revealed at any time. 
And in all ages and in all countries and under 
all governments, it is a tradition madam, to get 
rid of a troublesome person. 

Miss Masson being a disquieting personality, 
henceforth, I was sure that her matter would 
not end there. As I am not 'working' now, I 
have been amusing m3^self by watching her and 
following her, and have been well repaid for the 
pains I took on her account. Hear me, madam, 
and you will not laugli, I swear. Yesterday 
night, I was watching in front of the house of 
Miss Masson, when a man came out with her 
and went towards the Champs-Elysees in com- 
pany with her. There, like a lover, he called a 
cab and was driven towards L'Etoile. I fol- 
lowed them to the bridge of Nenilly. There, 
the man and Miss Masson a^ain alighted and 
paid the driver, and went on their way arm-in- 
arm along the banks of the Seine which lead to 
St. James. Without losing sight of the man 
and the girl, I kept on their track. They 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 235 

walked thus for about a kilometre. Then the 
man stopped — then, madam, oh! then, I saw a 
horrible thing ! 

The unfortunate girl believing surely that 
she was in good luck, and that she was going 
to some villa belonging to her companion, for 
the man had seized her as if to embrace her 
and she submitted to him sweetly and gently. 
He did embrace her in fact ; then suddenly 
seizing her by the waist, he threw her violently 
from him. The poor girl stumbled on the 
bank which is perpendicular, or very nearly 
so, at that spot, lost her balance, gave a loud 
scream, a scream which I shall always hear, and 
disappeared under the water. There was a 
muffled splash like the beating of wet linen, and 
all was still again. The gentleman stood 
motionless leaning over the Seine, remained a 
good half-hour, passing and repassing the scene 
of the crime. Then certain that nothing could 
betray him, that his task was accomplished, he 
quietly returned to Paris, his hands in his 
pockets, for it was rather cold. 

"•If I had arrested him, he would have been 



23*) NzM'OLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

astonished: but I was not there to meddle with 
liis phiiis, and his business did not concern me." 

And the detective philosophically added, with 
the tone of a man accustomed to all kinds of 
sights which are not to be talked about : 

" Everyone has his own affairs in life, isn't it 
so ( 

Then he concluded : 

" That is what I saw, madam. Wasn't it 
worth the trouble of telling you ? " 

The young woman had listened anxiously to 
the recital of the detective. When he spoke, 
she did not answer him, and seemed at first to 
be buried in deep thought. But she returned 
to the reality of events. 

"Certainly, my dear Frepont, this new drama 
deserved to be related to me." 

And she murmured : " I was asked to give 
her liberty to this unhappy woman, and to 
promise that I would not revenge myself on 
her. It would have been better for her if I had 
made her undergo some punishment. I would 
not have killed her and should have been con- 
tent to exile her from Paris." 



NArOLKDN III. AND I^ADY STUART. 237 

Tlien with ;i luugli : 

" It was quite right to tell me of this affair, 
Frcpont, but I advise you not to spread this 
adventure." 

The detective bowed and extended his hand 
as if to take an oath. 

"Be reassured on my account, madam. It 
would cost me more than I should like if I did 
nut hold my tongue about this affair. No mat- 
ter how much I may wish it, I shall not at- 
tempt to recognize the man of the drowning. 
1 1 is well to hunt birds like him at a distance. 
It" one attempts to put one's hand in their nest, 
it gets pecked." 

When the detective had left, the Conntess 
commenced to meditate on the fate of the 
prett}' girl who had made her suffer so much. 

" Decidedly," she thought, '' I am not with- 
out })ily for this unhapr)y girl. An instrument 
always ready for crime, this woman was des- 
tined to disappear by a crime. I pronounced 
her condemnation when I granted the Em- 
peror his favor the other evening. The Em- 
peror is good but the extreme measure he has 



238 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

taken astonishes me. The Emperor is good, 
yes -but on this occasion, reasons of State 
bound him, and if Miss Masson lived, it was 
likely that at some indefinite period the whole 
intrigue of La Verriere would be revealed 
publicly, the Empress compromised, and my 
peace endangered by blackmail. The girl had 
to die. A State reason, after all, is not such a 
bad invention for those who benefit by its en- 
forcement." 

Having finished her meditations, Lady 
Stuart went to her son whom she found in 
charge of his guardian. Slie took him in her 
arms and covered him with kisses as if lie had 
escaped some imaginary danger : and as it was 
a clear and fine day, slie took him around the 
lake in the Bois de Boulogne. 



CHAPTER XXIL 

In the renewal of her intimacy with the Em- 
peror, Lady Stuart was clever enough to avoid 



NAI'OLEON HI- AM> I-^I>^' STLAKT. 289 

all allusion to the disappearance of Martha 
Masson, and did not even recall the memories 
of the La Verriere drama. The interest or 
rather the curiosity which the tragic tale of 
Detective Fn'pont had excited in her had been 
succeeded by an absolute indifference to the 
fate of the unfortunate member of the demi- 
monde, and aside from that in the affection 
which she entertained for her son, in the active 
surveillance which she exercised over him and 
in the proud satisfaction which she felt in the 
undiminished affection of tlie Emperor, she en- 
joyed an undisturbed joy, and contented her- 
self with being simply happy. 

As she had told the Emperor, she had re- 
entered society— having thrown her house open 
to certain friends— to women of fashion belong- 
ing to the foreign colony, and to political men 
principally, and she seemed by the quietness 
of her existence, to have re-established herself 
in the influence which her name and her beauty 
formerly exercised, and to have forgotten the 
tears which she had shed. 

All of a sudden— it was then in the month 



240 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

of July 1870 — a lamentable rumor interrupted 
the even tenor of her life. Without any prep- 
aration for the sad surprise, war was declared 
between France and Prussia and Lady Stuart 
with her perspicacity, and knowing the dangers 
which menaced the Emperor, foresaw that from 
this war would result the upheaval of all those 
things which had dazzled the world, of the state 
of affairs which the careless had thought eter- 
nal, b''3'ond all human vicissitudes, and all polit- 
ical complications. Disasters followed one an- 
other with bewildering rapidity, and tlie young 
woman realized that all was over for her and 
the Emperor in the country over which he had 
ruled. 

She went to the English Embassy, saw Lord 
Lyons, who confirmed her apprehensions, and 
she no longer doubted that the Empire would 
be destroyed, as much from the defeat of her 
armies, as by the powerful popular outcry 
raised against it, and which was already pass- 
ing over the Tuileries like a whirlwind. 

Lady Stuart witliout being as much enamored 
of the Emperor Napoleon as he was of her, 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STI'ART. 241 

had a sincere afl'ectiou for him, because she 
kiit>w lie was a good man, because he was un- 
happy in his conjugal relations, as well as in 
the material and moral management of his of- 
ficial household, owing to the fools and the 
follies, wliich, under favor of his inexhaustible 
indulgence, caused his unpopularity. She 
therefore experienced a real and terrible grief 
and heartfelt despair at seeing the Emperor 
embark in this adventurous and formidable 
enterprise. 

However, she had not been able entirely to 
lose sight of the fact that in the strife that she 
had waged against her to whom she attributed 
all her grief, she had only obtained a semi- 
satisfaction and an incomplete revenge, and if 
she feared that the Emperor might fall in 
the bloody abyss of war, she could not refrain 
from thinking that the Empress would fall with 
him, and that this war which frightened her of- 
fered her also the absolute vengeance for wliich 
she wished and which she had been obliged to 
renounce. Fate was going to give her repris- 
als in comparison with which those for which 
16 



242 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

she had wished were cdiunioiiplace, and she 
smiled and she contemplated Fate like an in- 
visible phantom, intervening in the life of man- 
kind, with the supreme authority of an officer 
of justice. 

The Emperor at the time ill and worn-out, 
was taking his summer vacation witli the Court 
at St. Cloud. As she had not seen him for 
several days she wrote to him to expi ess her 
fears, and to testify her solicitude for him in his 
present critical position. She was aware that 
one woman, the Countess de Mercy-Argenteau, 
had consoled him somewhat during the hast few 
months of her intimacy with the Emperor, if 
not from his passion for her, at least by the at- 
tentions to which she had accustomed him : but 
she felt no anger against the Emperor for his in- 
constancy; she understood too well the tempta- 
tions by which he was surrounded not to excuse 
him; and seeing that, as a matter of fact, he 
had remained attached to her, she was desirous 
that her affectionate words should console him 
in the dire griefs which overwhelmed him. 

" You are about to place yourself at the head 



NAl'Ol-KON III. AND I,AI>V STUAirr. 243 

of yuurarmy, sire,'" she said to liiin, "and 1 weep 
at the perils which you are about to encounter. 
I do not dare under the serious circumstances 
which are convulsing the world, to ask you to 
grant nie an opportunity of saying adieu to yon. 
Shall- we see one another again ? God, alone, 
whom I pray to protect you, can answer this 
question. You have always been dear to me: 
you are still dearer to me when I feel that you 
are in danger." 

The unhappy sovereign, whose every minute 
was then devoted to the preparations for the 
campaign, was moved when he received her letter. 
When he answered her he excused himself for 
not having the leisure to see her before his de- 
parture, thanked her for her friendly words and 
assured her that he would never forget her. 
His letter was short, somewhat disjointed and 
almost illegible. He bad evidently written her 
under the influence of sorrowful presenti- 
ments. 

At this time, when so many tragical events 
were happening and were announced at the 
Court of wSt. Cloud, the men and women form- 



24:4 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

iiig the imperial suite concerned themselves but 
little, as I have already demonstrated in pre- 
ceding works, about the situation of the Em- 
peror and the country. 

The frequenters of the Tnileries continued 
to live well, laugh, make love, making an oc- 
casional halt when they were breathless with 
their pleasures, to shout, "■A Berlin/" but 
witliout pity for the profound sadness of the 
Emperor, without respect for his wish to avoid a 
conflict between Fiance and Prussia. People 
amused themselves at the Court at this time 
confronted with a vision of death as they had 
formerly done when the future was smiling. 

They played games, told stories as they gaily 
walked about, but utterly refused to discuss the 
gravity of events, or even to talk about them. 

One of the gallants at the Court one day ut- 
tered a typical " ?»o^" on this subject. Wlien 
an officer of the palace dared to exj)ress before 
him a sorrowful doubt as to the issue of the 
campaign, he disdainfully exclaimed : 

" Trul3% my dear fellow, you are a nuisance, 
and if we were to listen to you there would be 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 245 

an end to pleasure. The issue of the campuign 
— the issue of tlie campaign, well, isn't that 
settled, — we are going to make love to the 
women of Berlin, and that will be charnnng I " 

A witness of the heart-rending spectacle 
which the Court presented in 1870, reports that 
the Empress, no more than the courtiers, re- 
frained from the affectation of a careless gaiety. 
She amused herself by telling stories and the}' 
were not a little doubtful in character. 

Tliere is another fact still more characteristic 
and which incontestably proves the criminal in- 
difference of the friends of the imperial family. 
The same day that the news of the defeat at 
Wissembourg, was received at the Court, some 
fried gudgeons were being served at table. 
And what do 3'ou suppose was the subject of 
conversation during the repast? IL was 
gudgeons. This assertion may appear to be a 
senseless exaggeration : but it is a fact. It 
was M. de Cosse'-Brisac who started the con- 
versation on this important subject, in com- 
parison with which the poor soldiers mowed 
down and conquered on the frontier, doubtless 



246 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

had no interest for all these fools. M. de 
Cossd-Brisac was afraid of eating gudgeons if 
they were spawned in the Seine, because of the 
pollution of the river. Then each one had 
something to say on the more or less hygienic 
condition of the fry : and as it was known that 
the fish had been caught in the Seine, no one 
dared touch them. While these events were 
happening at St. Cloud, while the courtiers 
were standing terrified before a plate of fried 
gudgeons, unfortunate men who faced the 
mitrailleuse were falling mutilated, and the 
Emperor erring and nnliapp}^ bestrode in a 
fantastic gallop — a horse urged on by Dis- 
aster. 

Lady Stuart was well avenged. Misfortune 
had overtaken the Empire, — and the Empress, 
her rival of the year before, — the Empress who 
had banished her from the Tuileries, who had 
tortured her, — having returned to Paris was 
anxiously awaiting the last and supreme hour 
of her ruin. 

In fact there was no longer I'oom for doubt: 
the Empire was about to disappear in the smoke 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 247 

of battle, as well as in the anger of the masses, 
who in the shadow of the suburbs, were seeth- 
ing and hurling imprecations against it. 

Marshal jMa-]Mahon having been vanquished 
at Worth, had retreated on Chalons, where the 
Emperor had met hira. 

Lady Stuart, although she experienced a piti- 
less satisfaction at the gradual downfall of the 
Empress, was profoundly afflicted at the 
thought of the unfortunate Emperor fleeing 
from camp to camp, under the blows of an im- 
placable destiny. 

She had a terribly sad dream of him who had 
been her lover : she saw him bowed down be- 
neath the weight of his misfortunes, which he 
had not deserved, crouching under the cruel 
hand of a fate towards which he had been sor- 
rowfully driven : she saw him isolated, fever- 
ish, like an unfortunate creature repulsed by 
all, (flinging to his misfortunes even to try and 
draw some hope from them, and she told her- 
self that he was hers, that it was her duty, hav- 
ing derived happiness from him, to offer him 
consolation, and the infinite and comforting 



248 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

tenderness of a woman — that tenderness whicli 
loving lips understand how to administer to an 
agonized heart and from which it draws a hist 
and delicious sensation of life as it dies. 

Without thinking of the obstacles which she 
would encounter, or rather without being will- 
ing to admit these obstacles, she resolved to 
leave for Chalons and see the Emperor. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

When Napoleon III. unsealed the note in 
which she informed him of lier presence ne;tr 
him, and in which she begged him to receive 
her, he was much moved. The affection that 
this woman showed him who had only been his 
mistress, and who had suffered on his account 
— this spontaneous affection compared with the 
indifference of those he liad left at Paris, of 
those whom he had in the time of his power 
and good fortune, gorged with gold and love, 
touched him profoundly. 



NAToLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 249 

He desired tliat L;idy Stuart should come to 
liiin us soon as possible, and lie sent an officer of 
artillery to earij her his summons. 

When she appeared in his presence she 
t\)uud him surrounded by several generals, who 
discreetly retired at her approach. 

Then the unhap[)y sovereign, mournful, ex- 
hausted, with humid eyes and trembling hands, 
advanced to Lady Stuart, and without a word 
and with a gesture of utter despair, he opened 
his arms and held them extended towards her. 

The Countess Ellen who had turned very 
pale in presence of this supreme affliction, 
rushed to the Emperor, seized one of his 
trembling hands and raised it to her lips. But 
Napoleon III. drew her to him, and letting his 
head fall on her shoulder, like a child in trouble, 
drew a long sigh. Then he uttered words of 
complaint : 

" My friend, my poor friend " 

Lady Stuart tried to console him, to respond 
to his lamentation, by some words of hope, but 
the Emperor having seated himself and having 
placed her b}' his side, shook his head sadly : 



250 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

" No," said he, " all is finished : we are con- 
quered, and I am nothing but a plank tossed in 
a storm." 

And pointing to heaven, he murmured : 

" My star is no longer in the ascendant, you 
know it — that star that the world thought was 
faithful to me and in which I gloried when I 
was happy." 

The young woman whom the sorrow and the 
discouragement of Napoleon III. overwhelmed, 
ceased all consolation. 

" Ah ! sire," she cried, "■ why did you desire 
this war, why did you wish to add an uncertain 
satisfaction to that which was already assured 
to you ? " 

The Emperor who at the time was suffering- 
much physically, was sallow and as if quite over- 
come by the misfortune which tortured him. 
When he heaid these words, however, he recov- 
ered himself and looked fixedly at his friend. 

"You think," he said, "like all the world 
that I wished for this atrocious war which is 
ruining France, and which will cost me my 
throne, perhaps " 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STL' ART. l'oI 

The young woman remained silent and waited 
for the Emperor to explain himself. He guessed 
tlie question which she dared not formulate, 
and replied : 

" I did not wish the war — I did all I could to 
avoid it. I thought and still think that the 
sudden difference which arose between France 
and Prussia could be peacefully adjusted. But 
they rendered all arrangement between the two 
countries impossible, and war became inevitable 
owing to complications, intrigues, misunder- 
standings, imprudences, of which I yet know 
notliing and which mocked at my wishes in tlie 
dark." 

Lady Stuart, who was stupefied, uttered an 
involuntary exclamation : 

" How, sire, you did not wish for war and 
you signed the declaration of it ! " 

The Emperor seized the young woman's arm 
with a tight grasp. 

" Yon don't know — you can't know — I de- 
clared war because I was not permitted to 
oppose it." 

" But who around vou, sire, had sufficient 



252 >;apoleon hi. and lady stuart. 

authorit}', sufficient infernal ingenuity, to force 
you into an undertaking which you did not 
approve ? " 

Napoleon III. moved his lips, as if about to 
speak. But he simply raised his hands, wliich 
he let fall again on his knees, and stammered: 

"I cannot answer your question, madam." 

There was silence for a moment and the Em- 
peror and his mistress gazed at one another, 
and seemed to exchange the same thought 
which it was forbidden them to express. Then 
the Emperor spoke and his innate fatalism 
plainly revealed itself : 

" Whether I desired the war or whether it 
was forced upon me by a superior power to 
mine, the war exists, and it would be puerile to 
recriminate. It was to be without doubt, and 
all that I could have attempted to obviate it 
would have been useless. The days of men, 
their joys as well as their sorrows are counted, 
and none can lessen or augment the number. 
My happiness is at an end, and my sorrow be- 
gins. Where will this misfortune lead me? 
Will it be but fleeting, and will the magic star. 



NATOLKON Iir. AND LADY STUART. 253 

of which 1 spoke but now, reappear for lue in 
heaven? A Calvary confronts me: I think I 
sliall elinil) it to the summit : it is a mysterious 
and undeniable fact which presents itself in the 
lives of men : having been given in the evolu- 
tion of humanity un mingled joy and of long 
duration, the hour comes wdien this joy dies to 
give place to sorrow. My happiness, or ratlier 
the happiness of those who surrounded me, has 
existed too long, and the time when all happi- 
ness is paid for by tears, has come for me." 

The Emperor paused and a deep melancholy 
took possession of him. 

'^Only," he resumed, "fate is unjust to me, 
under tlie present circumstances : T am paying 
a higher tribute than others, more than those 
whose follies I have so often deplored, and 
who are in reality its debtors." 

Lady Stuart much moved and very pale, 
listened to the Emperor, without being able to 
find a word to dispel this lamentable sadness. 
She desired, however, to reply to him. 

"What are you going to do, sire?" she 
asked. 



254 NAPOLEON in. AND LADY STUART. 

" All, even the impossible, to save France." 

" What do you hope for — a victory — a great 
and early victory ? " 

Napoleon III. with a slow and prophetic 
accent, uttered this sentence : 

"I hope for nothing." 

The young woman uttered a cry. 

" Sire, you are desperate and wish to die." 

"A man, madam, rarely wishes to die. But 
there are sometimes cases where he must think 
of death." 

And as the Countess Ellen with a sudden 
and long-continued burst of tears, was about 
to protest, he stopped her and affectionately 
and tenderly careful of her feelings, said : 

"Let us forget our grief for a time and talk 
rather of yourself. Yr»n will suffer from the 
sorrows which are crushing me, and who knows, 
will perhaps curse my memory ? " 

Lad}'- Stuart sincerely revolted at these words 
and there was some contempt in her voice. 

" I figured too little, sire, among the courtiers 
of the Tuileries to be either forgetful or un- 
grateful. I shall always remember you and I 



NAPOLEON III. AND J.ADV STUART. 255 

shall love yi»u in misfortune, as I have loved 
you when you were prosperous." 

The Emperor was moved. 

" I believe you," said he, " I believe you. 
You have always been good to me even when 
5''0U were angry, and certain ill-founded suspi- 
cions agitated your mind, and provoked your 
resentment against my relatives. I thank you 
for all the affection you have lavished on me. 
I thank you for having come here to console 
me." 

As the young woman redoubled her sobs, he 
added, sorrowfully : 

" Alas ! we are about to part forever, per- 
haps — Ah ! poor friend, poor friend, how sad is 
our adieu." 

This interview was indeed to be the last that 
Lady Stuart had with the Emperor. She never 
again saw him after the war, in his exile, and 
she only reappeared at his coffin to weep for 
him. 

As she was about to take leave of Napoleon 
III., he rose and going to his campaign outfit, 
he said : 



256 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

" I wish that you should carry away a souv- 
enir of myself, — of this interview." 

And he offered her a beautiful coffee cup of 
precious metal which the Countess Ellen hai^ 
religiously preserved, which she shows to her 
intimate friends carefully locked in a glass case, 
in her salon. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Returning to Paris she rejoined her son : 
and in the increasing disturbances she waited 
for an unexpected turn of fortune to happen to 
relieve her anxiety for the fate of Napoleon 
III. 

But fate seemed to take a tragic pleasure in 
mutilating the Empire, and each day brought 
the world news of a new defeat of the French 
armies. 

It soon became evident that some drama 
arising from the turbulence of the Parisians, 
would be added to that which was being 



NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 257 

enacted on the fields of battle, and Lady 
Stuart wlio was alarmed not for herself, but 
for her child, at the thought of a popular out- 
break, resolved to leave Paris. 

When the catastrophe of Sedan was an- 
nounced, she had packed her trunks, closed her 
house and was living at the hotel Meurice, in 
the Rue de Rivoli. 

It was the afternoon of the 4th September 
1870. Lady Stuart had decided to go to Italy, 
there to await the crisis which nearly the whole 
of Europe was then undergoing, and she was 
engaged prior to departure on the very evening 
of this famous day in arranging her effects, 
w^hen noises suddenly rising from the street 
made her tremble. 

She went to the window of her room while 
little Jack who was then two years of age, 
trotted here and there among the disorder of 
her trunks, and she beheld a scene that she will 
never forget. 

An immense multitude, bands of men, women 
and children loomed like the angry sea at a dis- 
tance, in the Place de la Concorde, and was 
17 



258 NAPOLKON III. AND LADY STUART. 

advancii)g towards the Tuileries with terrible 
shuuts. 

Jt was the death of the Second Empire which 
the People was cliantiiig in a terrible I>e Pro- 
fundi: it was the gigantic death-note of tlie 
Second Empire, which the human masses 
yelled, savage, destroying, delirious with an 
exasperated high-strung patriotism : and Lady 
Stuart with a prompt conception of affairs un- 
derstood all the su})erb grandeur as well as the 
awful horror which characterized this conquered 
people whom a vision of victories had made an 
executioner. 

The mob entering the garden of the Chateau, 
passed like an animated waterspout under her 
window, and she contemplated it with fear as 
well as with involuntary admiration. 

Then she was seized with a singular feeling; 
she had a baleful vision of the events which 
were to take place at the Tuilei ies behind those 
balconies and windows towards which the mob 
was resolutely advancing. 

She beheld a woman whom she detested — 
she had a vision of the Euipress, alarmed, flee- 



NAPULKON 111. AND LADY SriAltr. li-VJ 

ing before the tumult, and in liev turn cast 
forth {'ri)ni the pahice wlierc she had reigned : 
slie felt all the intense feeling of her old hate 
revive, and she told herself that destiny was 
avenging her at this time, more than she could 
€ver have avenged herself for the wrong done 
her: she told herself that destiny, inciting 
these inliuriated men and women to an attack 
on the palace in a spirit of patriotic reprisals, 
realized for her the su[)reme and delicious ac- 
companiment of a revenge for her sufferings. 

In the room little Jack played with the 
clothes which littered the floor, and in the 
street men in greater and never-ceasing num- 
bers, with bare arms, in blouses or in coats, 
with gleaming, bloodshot eyes, pulled down 
the imperial emblems and cast the eagles in 
the gutter. 

Lady Stuart alarmed at the fury which urged 
these men on, with a bound reached her son, 
took him in her arms, and returning with him 
to the window of her room, she showed him 
the masses of people, the dismembered eagles, 
the Tuileries sad and deserted, and then caui? 



260 NAPOLEON III. AND LADY STUART. 

iiig the little child to clap his hands in applause,, 
she uttered a savage, strident triumphant cry : 
"Look, little one at all these men, at all 
these things — we are being avenged ! " 

As we said at the beginning of these pages^ 
Lady Stuart returned to France after the war, 
and took up her residence in Paris. She sub- 
sequently became the friend of the Duke of 
Edinburgh, who visited her secretly when he 
went to Paris, and by him she had two sons. 

Her son Jack, the son of the Emperor 
Napoleon III., is now one of the most dis- 
tinguished officers in the British army. 



FINIS. 



COPYRIGHT AND MISCELLA- 
NEOUS PUBLICATIONS ISSUED 
BY J. SELWIN TAIT & GONS 



What One Woman Thinks. 

Essays of Haryot Holt Cahoon. Wi^.' fr' nuspiece 
Edited by CvNrniA M. Westover. i2mo, clcnli, gilt 
top, $1.25. 

A series of brilliant essays which no household should be without. The charm of 
"this gilled author's pt;rsoiia!ily is perceptible in every line. 

" It is because IheSL- various essays are so unstudied, are so natural, and have 
nothing foreign in their sentiment that one lilces iheni so weil. An essentially 
American woman is here writing for us." — New York Times. 

" These es.says are a judicious combination of thought and e.xpression. They treat 
•of homtiy matters chielly, and reveal a true woman. . . . The collaboration is 
a pleasing success, both from a literarv and moral point of view." 

— The Churchman. 
"'This series of brilliant essayi make a volume of intense interest, dealing both 
•with people and things. The marked personality of this gifted author is "shown 
throughout the book; cleau-cul versatility and depth of thought are constantly 
apparent. . . . Everybody should read these essays." — Boston Times. 
" Tlie sketches are to be commended for their concise and pleasant manner of 
■saying what is to be s.iid directly and without unneoessarv circumlocution. Fhey 
.are pointed, witty, and in most cases just. . . . One o{ the best is an early one, 
' What Shall 1 Say to Peggy?' " — Chicago Times. 

■"You cannot read beyond page seven without a touch of the throat paralysis that 
ris akin to tears. . , . ' Intinite riches in a little room.' " 

— New York Telegram. 

Tavistock Tales. 

By GiLUKRT Parkkr, author of ' The Chief Factor," etc., 

and others. Illustrated, i :ni(), cloth, $1.25. Pape.', 50c. 

Mr. Gilbert P.irker's talent is very conspicuous in this work, and the same may be 
:said of the other authors. Each story rivals the other in dramatic force and skill i" 
"•.reatrasnt. No better book for the holidays can be imagined. 



TAVISTOCK TALES— Con/hiued. 

"The best of taste has been shown in the selection of these stories. . . . We 
know of few short stories more impressive than Gilbert Parker's 'The March of 
the White Guard.' " — JVeTii York Times. 

" The book is a charming one, and it is most attractively illustrated, by six compe- 
tent artists, in black and while." — Bos/on Beacon. 

" A volume full of power and pathos, dealing with great struggles in the lives of 
mankind, they have the virtue of being intensely human. . . . Together they 
form a delectable feast of pleasing xariely." ~-Pii6/ic Opinion. 

" One of the most entertaining volumes of short stories of the season, because of 
their variety and strength. . . . ' The March of the White Guard ' is by far 
the strongest and most dramatic." — Boston Times. 
" A book that cannot be too highly commended." 

— Commercial Btilletiyi, Minneapolis. 
" It will make a delightful and ornamental addition to any family library, especially 
where the family contains young people." — Kansas City Journal. 
"A cool, refreshing \-oIume for summer reading is 'Tavistock Tales.' . . . 
We can strongly recommend it." — Detroit Free Tress. 



To)d by the Colonel. 

By W. L. Alden. Illustrated. i2mo, cloth, $1.25. Paper, 50c. 

" The Colonel's repertory is of the funniest, and the most absurd things are given 
in the gravest maimer, and it is the amusing contrast, the jumble of things plaus- 
ible and impossible, that catches hold of the listeners. No human being ever 
could work the qualifying adjective as does Mr. ,\Iden." — New York Times. 
" His humor is clean and enjoyable." — Boston Times. 
" Everyone will enjoy the sketches, which are sure to provoke a hearty laugh." 

— Boston Courier. 
'" The stories have considerable breadth. Former readers of the /Xew York Times 
who revelled in the humor of W. L. Alden will hail the appearance of this new 
volume." — Chicago Tribune. 

"Here's a good antidote for the blues. If a sick or melancholy person should 
secure a copy he would soon be a cured man." — BurlingLon Hawk Eye. 
" Mr. Alden's humor produces the happy effect of good wine." 

— PhUadelphia Inquirer. 
" The whole will serve very well as a prescription for any one suffering with an 
attack of the blues." — San Francisco Morning Call. 

" The stories abound in humorous situations, quaint characters, and bright witti- 
cisms. The author's fertile fancy is happily combined with a terse and forcible 
style." — Outing. 

" The stories are really funny, not mere attempts in that direction. The illustra- 
tions are also well done ami increase in no small degree the anmsement to be 
derived from the book." — Boston Herald. 

"Catchy enough to interest a child, with an undercurrent satirical moral deep 
enough for the grandest statesman." — Harrisburg Telegram. 

"The author of 'The Adventures of Jimmy Brown,' who was a naughty boy^ 
always getting into trouble, . . . has the gift of fastening our attention and. 
amusing us." — Detroit Free Press. 

" Written in a particularh- bright and lively style, and makes most excellent read- 
ing." — New Orleans Picayune. 

" Full of bright, clean humor and sharp sarcasm." — St. Louis Post Dispatch. 
" In one story, ' Thompson's Tombstone,' there is p. drollery worthy of Mark 
Twain." — Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia. 

"Mr. Alden is a born humorist, and his book ought to heighten the joy of the 
nations." — iV. Y. Recorder. 

"Stories like these of Mr. Alden's affect the mental appetite after the manner of a. 
piquant sauce. . . . The ' ridiculous ' power of the whole list of stories is won- 
derful " — Boston Ideas. 



At the Rising of the Moon. 

By Frank Matiiew. IlU.siratcd by Fred. Pegram ai.a 
A. S. Hoyd. i2ino, clolh, ^1.25. 

■• - A. iho Kkintr <.f the Moon ' is but a little voUime, and its stories are brief a;-! 
,u,t n, ^v bu l1>e vc y heir of Ireland beats in then,. One by one the vano,.s 
.0, 1 i;- es - pear -it is a motley company, but every l.gure abounds i" chan.. - 
er id \ r M hew, whether by'in.itation or by grace of similar natural g.. . 
makes each one as efleclive as Mr. K.phng himsel^could 'nake_^t^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ 

•• They are as true to Irish life as the songs of Tom Moore are."-Z.'V^^ao' H^or. '. 
•■ In this series of stories and studies the biographer of Father Mathew has do^ e 
for M ohef-uut Vts people very mlich what Mr. Barrie has done for 1 brums m 1 > 
•Uivls'-nle writer brings over with H.bernian hilar ty, and h.s book teems w. .. 
thai apparently unconscious humor which is so racy ol the soU.^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ 

■' \ volume of gracefully written and interesting sketches of Irish life. r-. 
Mathew has a ddicacy ol^ touch and a certain refinement that add to the value .f 
his studies of Irish character."— (For/rf. 

■• irelan.l has found her Kipling and that is.no small S^'Of' f';:l^""\''°;l?,^'';,,eico e 
The verv heart of Irela.id beats n these stones. . . . ,/,'^'-jT? ^„';;' [ " Moon. ■ 
in store for a dozen such books if they be as good as At the R'^l"!;^'^,^;)^^^;^"),/ 

"An attractive collection of Irish stories and studies. The Rev Peter Fla^^^^^^^ - 



The Soul of the Bishop. 

Bv John Strange Winter (Mrs. Arthur Stannar.l, 
F.R.S.L.). Handsomely illustrated, with frontispiece of 
author. Cloth, 310 pages, 121110, $1.25. Paper, 50c. 

An engrossing work which clergymen of all dcnominations-as well as layme..- 

will do well to read and carefully ponder. 

, L r „ .u» o„ihnr s-ivs- "I have tried to show how a really honest m'. A 

n'.v'In^r-fHs too o'^en dols sufTe men?al and n,oral shipwreck over those ro. s 

wSk^h the an.rch allows to endanger the channel to a harbor never easy to na . .- 

gate at an> lime." 

" Both theme and motive are tin,e!y. and are ^^islicallv develo^ed^'^^^^^^ .^^^ 

■' The book is a noteworthy protest against the rete.ition of outgrown dogma, i.i 
the constitution of any church."-Z.i/<?r(ir^ IVorld. 

•■ A book of unmistakable force. The situation is perfectly natural ; not an ox er- 
slrained note appears in [\.."-Philadeipliia Ledger. 



cheap Jack Zita. 



By S. Baring-Gould, author of " Mehalah," "Judith," 
"John Herring," etc. i2mo, cloth, finely illustrated, $1.25. 

Paper, 50c. 

Apart from his acknowledged skill as a writer Mr. Gould is the highest living 
authority on the wonderful fen-life in the Lincolnshire marshes, and the book is 
as full of strong local color as " Lorna Doone," which it somewhat resembles. 



The Doomswoman. 



By Gertrude Atherton, author of "Hermia Suydam," 
" Los Cerritos," "A Question of Time," etc. i6mo, 
cloth, ornamental, $1.00. Paper, 25c. 
"Full of incident, passion, color, and character." — The Critic. 

" A powerful dramatic representation of old California life." 

— LippiucotV s Magazine. 
"Conspicuously superior to any novel that any Californian has done." 

— ■.\mbrose Bierce in San Francisco Examiner. 
" ' The Doomswoman ' is an immensely clever book, and there are pages in it that 
deserve to live as being some of the ablest contributions to the literature of the 
human emotions which the English literature contains." — Paris Figaro. 

" Mrs. Atherton has given to us a picture of the manners, social life, traditions, 
feuds, and ambitions of a by-gone time and a virtually by-gone race. . . . 'The 
Doomswoman ' is not only an interesting and vivid story, but a book of permanent 
historical value." — Boston Times. 

" The characters in the book are very fine. The action is rapid and interesting. 
The descriptions are artistic, and all is clothed with a charming style. It is a de- 
'ightful book." — JVew Orleans Picayune. 

■' It is in the realized fulness and complex emotions of life that Mrs. Atherton's 
strength lies. Chonita, ' The Doomswoman,' is a character whose completeness 
could be surpassed by few authors. A breathing reality created by a master hand ; 
and she is not less real because she is an uncommon, an original character. This 
is high praise but it is not too high." — Vanity Fair, London. 

" The novel is full of a vivid life and personality, of freshness and fascination, of 
pictures which will not easily be forgotten. ... It is by far 

the most picturesque and characlerisiic showing that has been made of that time 
(the old Spanish days)." — Literary World. 

" Though Mrs. Atherton's descriptions of the land and of the estates, of the dwell- 
ings and of the inhabitants, of tlieir christenings and marriages with the joyous 
accompaniments of feast and dance, are vivid and interesting, yet her novel has in 
it an abundance of thought, a critical intellectuality, an acuteness in character 
analysis that give it abundant worth even were it not placed in an attractive set- 
ting of unusual scenery." — Public Opinion. 

" Mrs. Atherton's realism can be praised because it is natural and not pretended. 
Given the strange atmosphere in which her characters move, they are men and 
women with the virtues and failings of genuine people. Her descriptions of social 
life in California are vivid, and they have the effect of dissipating some of those 
ceremonious forms which were crvstallized in much old-fashioned fiction respect- 
ing the Spaniards in America." — New York Tribune. 

'' A novel of early Californian and Me.vican days before the discovery of gold. 
Told with force and vivid effect." — Baltimore Sun. 



Who is the Man? 



By J. Selwin Tait, author of "My Friend Pasquale," 
"The Neapolitan Banker," etc. Illustrated. i2nio, cloth, 
$1.25. 

" The reader's interest is held spellbound from the beginning of the book to its 
close, and llie uiysiery ol the volume deepens with every page until the tinal solu- 
tion comes upon him with a shock of siarued surprise. The bull fight on the plain 
and subse<.iuent duel are as thrilling as the chariot race in 'lien Hur,' and the 
interest is never allowed to llag." — recorder. 

" A stor>' which, from the opening pages to the last chapter, creates and holds the 
reader's eager interest." — J-'hiladilphia Inquirer. 

" A well-sustained story of the concealment and discovery of the authorship of 
crime. The action opens in Wyoming Territory but is continued and concluded 
on the Scottish border. The plot is thoroughly natural, and the narrative is vig- 
orous and engrossing." — The Congregationalist. 



My Friend Pasquale. 



By J. Selwin Tait, author of "Who is the Man?" 
"The Neapolitan Banker," etc. lamo, cloth, $1 .00. 

" The most noteworthy of the stories in this volume is the first, bearing the plain 
unpromising superscription ' My Friend Pasquale.' A most remarkable, and we 
might say a most brilliant, attempt to illustrate the wide range of the human im- 
agination. The little plot has been most naturally and uiiafTectedly laid and faith- 
fully conducted to a rather eccentric close. . . . The story is absorbingly fas- 
cinating and keeps one's attention actually spellbound from its beginning to its 
•close." — Public Opinion. 



The Lost Trader ; 



Or, THE MVSTKRY OF THE "LOMBARDS." By HENRY 

Frith. i2mo, cloth, illuminated cover. Four illustrations. 

" It is wholesome and uplifting in its tone and character." — Boston Herald. 

" A healthy and stirring romance of the sea." — Philadelphia Press. 

" .\ splendid sea ston.' of the days when steam had not yet destroyed the romance 
of the deep." — Book Chat. 

" .\ cajiital storv of marine adventures. Pirates, slave-traders, mutineers, desert 
islands, shipwrecks, sea-fights, and hidden treasures are Mr. Frith's paraphernalia 
and he makes full use of them all. The book will be a delight to boys." 

—Charleston News and Courier. 

"The author is a famous spinner of yarns . there is no flagging of interest from 
cover to cover." — Philadelphia Record. 

" Most picturesnnely hound and well illustrated. One of the books the uprising 
generation will fully appreciate." — Boston Ideas. 



The Bedouin Girl. 

By Mrs. S. J. Higginson, author of "A Princess of Java." 
Illustrated with 5 original drawings by Steeple Davis. 
121110, cloih, With appropriate design, $1.25. 

The Bedouin Girl ' is a striking story. Mrs. Higginson is one of the few white 
women who have journeyed with the Haj-Caravan on its holy pilgrimage, and she 
lias done other strange feats of traveling which are seldom indulged in bv Amer- 
ican women, though English women frequently attempt them. . . . The story 
lb Uecidedly original and has local color not usual in Oriental tales written by out- 
side barbarians. . . . The description of the Pilgrimage from Bagdad seems to 
me capital and realistic. Not quite as gorgeous and lurid as that of the passing of 
L'l^-P',?''^ "^.'" ■ ' he Prince of India,' but very life-like. 

1 he bedouin girl is a beautiful little thing and clever, and is quite a new character 
in the .stones of these yf« dc siecle da vs. Her escapes are well told, and there is a 
decided humorous touch about the woman Aveba who curled herself into a hall 
"'\i '" u '"■ ^^""^ '^'^'h'^" her husband Metaah began to kick and beat her. 

Mrs. Higginson has written to entertain, and the unusual characters and scenes of 
her story wiU accomplish that object. The book makes a new ripple upon the sea 
oi literature. — Jeannette Gilder in The Chicago Tribune. 



Out of Reach. 

By EsME Stuart. i2mo, cloth, illuminated cover. Four 
illustrations. 

" A perfectly beautiful story for older girls, by Esm6 Stuart, well remembered 
through 'A Little Brown (;irl ' and 'Mimi.' . . . The book is prettily bound 
and illustrated." — Baltimore American. 

" A romantic tale which touches a bit the atmosphere of the weird, but which is in 
itself not the least so, being brisk and vigorous throughout. . . . The idea of 
the story is excellent and it is strongly handled. . . . Parts of it are very sweet, 
all interesting, much cleverly placed. The diction is always clear and forceful and 
the story, with all its romantic resources, developed amid a specially fruitful 
atmosphere, is one that will be widely enjoyed." — Boston Ideas. 

" ' Out of Reach,' by Ebir6 Stuart, is for a young girl what a novel by Mr. Grant 
Allen might be for her mother. . . . The book is entertaining and rather unus- 
ual in character." — Literary World. 



Black, White, and Gray. 

By Amy Walton. With 4 illustrations. Illuminated 
cover. i2mo, cloth. 

A story of three homes. An excellent story for childreri. 

" It is to be recommended heartily to all who want something innocent and pleas- 
ing to add to the children's home library." — Boston Beacon. 

" An amusing tale of three kittens and their homes by Amy Walton. It is a sensi- 
ble, jolly book for little bovs and girls. ... It is not often that one comes 
across such a natural, sensible story so pleasantly told." — Literary World. 

"It contains a wealth of sympathetic touches that will make each child who reads 
it more reflective and thoughtful in her intercovrse with other boys and girls." 

— Boston Herald. 



Memoirs of Anne C. L. Botta. 

Written by her friends. With selections from her corres- 
pondence and from her writings in prose and poetry. 
Edited by Professor VlNCENZO Botta. A limited edition, 
printed on Holland paper, with gilt top and untrimmed 
edges. Engraved portrait of Mrs. Botta. Cloth, 8vo, 
475 P-iges, $3-5o- 

" An cxtiaordinnry tribute and one that could not have been called forth by any 
ordinarv character. Mr. James Anthony Froude, Mr. Parke Godwin, Mrs. Julia 
W.ird Howe, Mr. E. C. Stedinan, Mr. Charles Dudley Warner, Miss Kate Field, 
Miss Kale Sanborn, Mr. John Bigelow, Miss Edith M. Thomas, Mr. Richard 
Wats-jn Gilder, Mrs. Marv Mapes Dodge, Mr. Moncure D.Conway, Mr. Juslm 
McCarthy, and many more', have contributed these memoirs."— The New York Sun. 
" The volume recently edited by Professor Botta, in memory of his wile, . . . 
will have an ennobling and uplifting effect upon all who read it, by reason of the 
picture it presents of an ideallv beautiful life. We commend this svmposium to 
the consideration of those ladies who are ambitious to emulate the fame of those 
of their sex whose names have become historical as the creators of salons." 

— The Home Journal. 

" There is a touching charm about many of these memoirs ; they glow with the 
splendor of lofty and real attachment, and they pulsate with generous and respon- 
sive life as do hearts. . . . For nearly two generations Mrs. Botta was a con- 
spicuous force and figure in the social and intellectual life of this city. When she 
died Julia Ward Howe remarked, 'AH her friends remain her debtors.' . . . 
Andrew D. White quotes Horace Greeley, who said: 'Anne Lynch is the best 
woman that God ever made.' . . . Froude declares that while he lives he cau 
never cease to remember her. . . . Charles .\. Pcabody will remember her ' as 
a benefactor so long as memory shall continue to serve me.' " — New York Times. 
" The volume of memoirs which her husband has edited is a lasting and impres- 
sive monument to her memorv, buildcd by many hands and adorned with the affec- 
tionate and loving utterances of scores of distinguished persons who regret her 
loss. . . . The memoirs are most handsomely printed on heavy rough-edged 
paper, and are embellished with a portrait of Mrs. Botta in ' the flower of her old 
age.' " — New York Mail and Express. 

" Mrs. Botta was a woman of acute intellectual insight and a most charming char- 
acter. Her presence acted as a powerful stimulus in developing the social talents 
of others, and her 'evenings' were a recognized institution in New York, where 
the best writers, poets, and artists of the time attended these popular receptions. 
It was at one of these that Poe gave the first reading of the ' Raven.' Emerson, 
Bryant, Irving, Bancroft, Bavard Tavlor, Dr. Bellows, the Carev sisters, Horace 
Greeley, H. W. Beechcr, Edwin Booth, Froude, Proctor, Charles Kings'ey, 
Matthew .\rnold. Lord Houghton, and other prominent people attended Mrs. 
Botta's receptions, and happy recollections of these social gatherings animate the 
portion of this memorial contributed by her friends. ... A portrait of Mrs. 
Bitla taken late in life explains what Edmund Clarence Stedman said of her: 
' Her grace, her personal charm, her gift of perpetual youth, were those of an ideal 
womanhood.' It is a stimulating hook."— Public Ledger, Philadelphia. 
" This book, commemorating a good, wise, and lovable woman, is hardly a biog- 
raphy, though the course of a beneficent life maybe traced in its pages. . . . 
It is an enviable lestimonv to the beautv of Mrs. Botta's character and the worth of 
her brains that these chapters set forth. . . . What she seemed to one among 
the many foreigners of distinction, who have tested her hospitality in later years, 
is set f.irth in this passage from a letter written by Mr. Froude: ' I have known 
many interesting women in mv life, but about her there was a peculiar grace which 
I have never seen in any other person. She had brilliant gifts, yet she never 
seemed to know that she had anv gifts at all. 

" I was introduced into Mrs. Botta's salon fortv-four vears ago, either by Dr. Rufus 
Wilmol Griswold or by Mr. Bayard Taylor. Mrs. Botta, who was then Miss .\nne 
Charlotte Lynch, was'known (o me before the date I have specified through her 
poems in Graham's Magazine and other periodicals. . . . To meet this accom- 
plished gentlewoman was a distinction, since in meeting her one met her friends,, 
the least of whom was worth knowing. . . ." 

—Richard Hknry Stoddard in The Independent. 



The Gist of Whist. 

By Charles E. Coffin. Pocket i2mo, red edges, cloth, 
75 cents; flexible leather, red edges, $i.oo. 

"A valuable addition to whist literature, and must be greatly appreciated by all 
lovers of the intellectual game. . . . The author has examined all the standard 
authorities, and presented the gist of the whole subject in the least possible com- 
pass, and in the most interesting and complete and comprehensive form." 

— Evening Post, Burlington, Iowa. 
"A clever and thoroughly practical manual." — Philadelphia Ledger. 
"A book to be bought, read, and cherished forever." — Providence Sunday Journal. 
'" Presents the chief features of the game in a strong and simple way." 

— Boston Advertiser. 
" Simple and direct in statement. The laws and leads are made clear in condensed 
and practical form." — Boston Times. 

" ' The Gist of Whist ' meets a long-felt requirement. ... In its one hundred 

pages are contained concise, readable, and comprehensive instructions of the 

game, under such practical heads as Fundamental Principles, American Leads, 

Conventional Plays, and Practical Precepts. . . . The whole is in just the shape 

for informative reading or quick reference. The binding, too, is dainty indeed 

and of itself sufficient to make one desire its possession." — Boston Ideas. 

" .\ perfect hand manual of this king of card games ; contains the essence of all the 

best guide books on the subject, including the improved method of American leads 

and a complete glossary of the common and technical terms, to which is added 

' The Laws of Whist ' as revised at the Third American Whist Congress. 

' Know the leads and when to make them, 

Know the tricks and when to take them. 

Know the rules and when to break them, 

Know the laws and ne'er forsake them.' 

" Beginners and moderate players at whist need to have the information of the 

game presented to them in an entertaining manner in order to awaken interest and 

encourage them to oroceed. 

" 1 believe ' The Gist of Whist ' will possess this characteristic in a marked degree, 
judging from the advance sheets which I have seen. It is bright in style, and 
presents the chief features of the game in a strong, simple way. 
" .Ml maxmis and tables of leads follow the latest and best authorities, so that the 
work is entirely reliable; and it is broad and comprehensive enough to graduate 
good players." — Cassius M. Paine, Editor of ll-'hist. 



Barrack-room Ballads and Other Verses. 

By RUDYARD Kipling, author of " Mine Own People," 
"Soldiers Three," etc. i2mo, cloth, $i.oo; paper, 50 
cents. 

"These poems are full of dramatic vigor, crisp, terse, witty, and entertaining. 
Those entitled ' The Betrothed,' ' You May Choose Between Me and Your Cigar ' 
remind one of Bret Harte or Thackeray, and are alone worth the price of the book." 



The Woman of the Iron Bracelets. 

By Frank Barrett, author of " Kitty's Father," "Olga's 
Crime," etc. i2mo, cloth, $1 00. Pape.-, 50c. 

"In every way an excellent story. .\ well-balanced, charming work of fiction, 
■^lean and bright." — Boston Times. 



Cosmopolis. 



By Paul Bourget. Authorized edition; handsomely 
iUustratcd by A. Casarin, a pupil of Mcissonier. Large 
121110, cloth, gilt, $1.50. Paper {not illustrated), 50 cents, 

" A work of extraordinary power ami deep interest." — Pliilaiti'lpliia Bulletin. 
" Bourget has given us a series of portraits which are elaborated and re- 
fined. . . . ' Cosmopolis ' is an admirable piece of portraiture in all ways." 

— New York Tribune. 

The Curb of Honor. 

By M. Bktha.m-Edwards, author of "The Romance of 
a French Parsonage." i2mo, cloth, $1.00. Paper, 50c. 

A romantic story of the Pyrenees, that peculiar French atmosphere with which 
that talented author alone of English writers can endow a picture of French Ufe. 
" With many and effective descriptions of scenery in the Pyrenees this story of the 
French and Spanish border line runs along very pleasantly." — The Independent. 
" Grandly clear-cut is this story, harmoniously true and deeply strong. A gem cut 
from Nature's very heart, rather than from her clothing." — Boston Ideas. 
" Tliis story is well told and is not commonplace." — Telegram. 
" The author sliows a man, yet one full of inspiration, getiius, and wit ; and his 
great love for the waif of the storm, HIdred ICden, is exquisitely portrayed. 'The 
Curb of Honor ' will add to the author's name and fame." — Boston limes. 
" Miss Betham-Edwards's new book contains some excellent descriptions of Py- 
renean scenery and of life in one of the remote mountain valleys on the borderland 
between France and Spain. Miss Betham-Edwards has made French Protestant 
parsonages quite a specialty of her own, and turns them to very pleasant use." 

— Athen^rum. 

" The pictures of French life and scenery are fine. They belong to a field in which 
the author excels." — Daily News, Denver. 



Mrs. Clift-Crosby's Niece. 

By Ella Childs Hurlbut. i2mo, cloth, $1.00. Paper, 25c. 

« 

This is an exceedingly piquant socielv novel. It abounds in striking passages, 
and its easv, unbroken style makes its fetleclion of fashionable life singularly faith- 
ful and ciear. It is rare, indeed, that fashionable New York finds so gifted an 
illustrator as Mrs. Hurlbut. 

•• It is a fascinating societv novel of theyfw de sieclc type. The story is really brill- 
iant at times, witii a finished, terse style that is singularly true, in detail, to the 
fashionable life that it describes." — Boston Times. 

" The book is a picture of New York life ; the story is well painted ; clearly, 
smoothly, cleverly." — Boston Ideas. 

" New York fashionable society is the subject in general and the career of Mrs. 
C ift-Crosby's niece the theme in particular of the present issue. Skninmnig 
lightlv over the surface of life with an occasional peep into its depths, 11 depicts 
various pli.ases of ' swelldom,' including a love affair with a French count and all 
the necessary adjuncts. This story will doubtless interest the summer reader." 
•' •" —Public Opinion. 

" Mrs. Hurlbut has given us an interesting picture of contomporary fashionable 
New York Societv and has told the story of the crossed love of a wa\ward but 
very attractive and very real girl. The conception and the style of the author are 
genuinely artistic." — Rewiew of Reviews. 



The Celebrated ''Pseudonym" Library. 

A daintily bound and printed long i6mo pocket edition of 

the best new fiction. Cloth bound, gilt top, 50 cents per 

volume. 

Every work in this world-renowned series is a literary gem, and the volumes 
themselves are specially adapted in size, appearance, and quality for boudoir or 
drawing-room use. 

Vol. I. MAKAR'S DREAM. 

This is the tale of the dream which poor Makar dreamt on Christmas Eve — the very 
Makar wlio is mentioned by the Russian proverb as the step-child of Kate. The 
story is in turn weird, uncanny, and entrancing, and it holds the reader with won- 
derful fascination. Once read it will never be forgotten. 

Vol. II. HERB OF LOVE. Translated from the 
Greek by Eliz. M. Edmonds. 

This is a fascinating story of Greek peasant life, introducing a couple of gypsy 
characters and relieving them against the stolid and superstitious Greek peasantry 
with strong effect. 

Vol. III. HEAVY LADEN. Translated from the 
German by Helen A. M.-vcdonell. 

" Use Frappen, above all things, paints life at first hand. She possesses the true 
artist's eye; and the Hamburg that could draw from Heine only the most cynical 
and scathing sarcasm has revealed to her a wealth of poetic material." 

Vol. IV. THE SAGHALIEN CONVICTS AND 
OTHER STORIES. 

"These stories illustrate life in a quarter of the world with which the reading 
public is but little acquainted. The lover of fiction will find in these pages niucn 
to delight and instruct. The scenes and characters are all novel but described 
with a degree of art which invests them with something of the familiarity of that 
which has been seen before." — Philadelphia Item. 

Vol. V. THE SCHOOL OF ART. By Isabel Snow. 

This story is told with wonderful verve, and yet, amid all its swing and rapidity 
of movement we pause at times to brush away the ready tear. It is intensely true 
to life, and the atmosphere is nature's own. 



Vol. VI. A BUNDLE OF LIFE. By John Oliver 
HOBBES (Mrs. Craigie), author of " Sinner's Comedy," 
"Some Emotions and a Moral," and "Study in Temp- 
tations." 

No work of fiction in the English language contains more brilliant writing in the 
same space. 

The first edition was exhausted on the date of publication, and the second within 
six days. 



A BUNDLE OF LI FE-CV;/ //;/«.</. 

" To my mind Mrs. CraJKie (J"'"> Oliver Ilolihcs) is the cleverest of all the women 
will) have spruiijf into lame within the last two or three years. . . . IfSarali 
Grand lunl Mrs. Craigie's conden.satlun 'The Heavenly Twins' would he a much 
stronner hook. . . . Mrs. Craigie is a Lynic, and 1 have heard that hercyiiii^ism 
comes Irom her own experiences in life, which have not heen ot the h;ii)|jiest. 
. . . Mrs. Ciainie is especially clever at epigram ; her hooks are epigrammatic 
from the lirst to the last pa),'e, ami in this form of literature she is much more strik- 
in;; ih.in Uscar Wilde. VVith Oscar Wilde it seems to be a cultivated cleverness; 
wuh Mrs. Craijs'ie it is entirely spontaneous, and is her way of looking at things! 
. . . I'lie hook must he read, and it will be read, lor il is one of the brightest 
that has been published in many a long day. ... 1 iliink that I have proved in 
the foregoing that 'A IJunille of Life' is well worth reading, and that Mrs. t'raigie, 
or Jiihn Oliver Hobbes il one prefers, is a woman of sparkling though sarcastic 
wit."— jEA.N.siirrii L. GlLUliK in the AVzt/ York World. 

" That brilliant woman who chooses to be known as ' J<ih!i Oliver Hobbes ' is one of 
the wittiest of modern writers, and her latest tale will be keenly relished for its 
piquancy ami its clever dramatizing of a little comedy of tlie heart." 

— Boston Beacon. 
" The book contains a wealth of expressive word-painlinjj, and will be warmly 
welcomed as one of the gem? of the Pseudonym Library, which is one of the choic- 
est series published. The Pseudonym Library represents convenient size, excep- 
tional good taste, and a nameless attraction which wins one the moment its cover 
strikes the view. The type is a delight to the eye, and the whole book holds a 
charm over the a-sthclic sense." — Boston Ideas. 

" How often in our own experiences have we found it difficult to decide whether 
some imi)i)rtant change in the tide of our affairs is brought about by 'a dispensation 
of Providence or the interference of Satan I ' And, in the society of to-day, are there 
not Lady Lurewells and Mrs. Portcullises who can 'dress up a sin so religiously 
that the devil h, iself would hardly know it of his own making ? ' " 

— Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. 
" A well-written and interesting story." — Christiati at IVork. 

"John Oliver Hobbes' masterpiece is clearly ' A Bundle of Life.' " 

— Boston Daily Advertiser. 

Gossip of the Caribbees; 

Or, Sketches of Anglo-West Indian Life. By 
William R. H. Trowbridge, Jr. Illustrated. 121110, 
illuminated cloth, $1.25. Pape/, 50c. 

'These sketches of Anglo-West Indian life have an unmistakable flavor of Mr. 
Kipling about them. . . . They are interesting bits of colony life, told for the 
most part in graphic, forceful style, with occasional touches of rather daring 
realism." — Literary World. 

" In a succession of slight sketches or .short stories Mr. Trowbridge deals with the 
Windward group of the West Indian Islands in its social aspects. . . . ' Mrs. 
Clarendon's Dance' is an excellent piece of social comedy, and there is a great 
deal of capital broad farce in the misfortunes that befall the ambitious hostess 
whose little dance proves a dismal failure. ' The Old Portrait ' is a thrilling ro- 
mance of the last century, which nevertheless seems to bear internal evidence of 
keeping prettv close to actual facts. ' For the Sake of the Cross " is a really power- 
ful tale of noble self-sacrifice." — Saturday Review, London. 

" The book opens out a new and unexplored region to the majority of American 
readers, and is intensely interesting both in style and subject matter." 

— Evening Post, Chicago. 

" The sketches are very interesting and give one a clear and comprehensive idea of 
the topogrnphv, climate, manners, and customs of Anglo- West Indian life in Uarba- 
does and the adjacent colonies." — Toifw Topics. 

" These short stories contain a pleasing admixture of light satire and unafTected 
pathos." — The Alhentrum, London. 



Fragments in Baskets. 



By Mrs. W. FsOYD CARPENTER (Wife of the Bishop of 
Ripon). Beautifully illustrated. i2mo, cloth, elegantly 
embossed, $i.oo. [Jusi Published. 

These fragments comprise a series of twelve exquisite apologues, attractive alike 
to youth and age. A daintily illustrated volume admirably adapted for presen- 
tation. 

Athletics as a Means of Physical 
Training. 

By Theo. C. Knauff. Richly illustrated. i2mo, 
cloth, $2.00. 

There are many text-books in every department of athletics from which one may 
learn rules, or how to become an expert by making a business of a pleasure. This 
book, however, covers the whole broad field of athletics, and with sufficient detail 
not only to determine the value of each pursuit as a meajis of phvsical culture, but 
to demonstrate what is excess and to ascertain what has been done, or what may 
still remain to be acco^nplished, by the average business man who caiuiot devote a 
lifetime to the cultivation of athletics, and who naturally desires every hour which 
he is able to devote to it should be one of continuous progress, and not of wasted, 
il!-regukited efforts, which are oft times disastrous to his physical well being. 
The peculiar needs and opportunities for women in the same relation receive 
attention. 

The work is treated very exhaustively, and in an interesting and attractive form. 
It has not been written from a medical point of view, but with the object of fur- 
nishing a popular work. The object has been to create a standard authority, and 
we think that the public will agree with us that it has been accomplished. 
The volume has a wealth of original illustrations, including many life studies of 
great value. Some of these will appeal very strongly to those who have beei> neg- 
lecting the care of their own bodies, with the result of impaired health and vitality^ 
as well as lessened capacity to enjoy hfe. 



Americans in Europe. 

By One of Them. i2mo, cloth, $1.00. Paper, 50c. 

This remarkable volume, which casts so strong and at times so fierce a light on 
American life abroad, and the e\ils to which it is constantly exposed, is, beyond 
all doulit, destined to make a very greit stir, and especiallv among travelers and 
those who are already to some e.xtent familiar with the conditions of existence in 
Kiirope.m capitals. 

The author, whose identity is onlv withheld temporarily, has had an unequaled 
opportunitv of acquainting himse'fwith his subject, and the result is a trenchant 
ami powe' ful work wilho\it a single dull line within its covers. The hook is abso- 
lutely indispensable to all contemplating a European residence for themselves or 
relatives. 

A work of remarkable power. The writer is absolutely fearless in his denuncia- 
tion of .American practices abroad which he condemns. 
" The author of ' .\mericans in Europe ' is to be lauded for his pntriotism." 

— New York Times. 
" A book that is sure to have a sale and to be talked about." — New York Herald. 
" The author has pungent chapters on the dangers to which American young men 
and girls are exposed in Paris when \Uev go there to study art and music, and 
mothers are warned not to send their daughters to the American Sunday-school at 
the French capital, that institution being denounced as a hot-bed of flirtation." 

— Boston Beacon. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



019 597 275 8 




1 



^11 






